Hatch Act Cases Against Former Feds Resume as OSC Highlights Historic FY 2025
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) says it will resume filing complaints against former federal employees for alleged violations of the Hatch Act, the law that restricts political activities in the federal workplace.
New complaints against former feds were on hold for eight months. But after a Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) administrative law judge ruled that OSC does have jurisdiction over Hatch Act complaints against former federal employees, OSC is moving ahead.
“Subject to its discretion and the circumstances of each case, OSC will no longer refrain from filing complaints at the MSPB alleging Hatch Act violations where the subject employee has left federal service,” OSC wrote in an advisory opinion.
OSC: Productive and Impactful Year
OSC also released its year in review for fiscal year 2025, calling it one of the “most productive and impactful in OSC history” and saying the agency delivered “exceptional performance.”
Whistleblowers:
OSC opened 2,535 whistleblower disclosure cases in FY 2025, up 800 from FY 2024.
OSC closed 2,609 cases, up nearly 1,000 from the prior year.
OSC issued 49 reports to the President and to Congress on whistleblower disclosures, up from 43.
OSC highlighted several cases including one where Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) employees revealed that active mines in U.S. Pacific Territories were falsely designated as abandoned, allowing MSHA to avoid mandatory health inspections.
Another included whistleblowers at the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) disclosing widespread safety hazards and infrastructure failures at the facility.
Prohibited Personnel Practices:
OSC received more than 6,570 complaints of PPPs in FY 2025, almost 2,4000 more than in FY 2024. That’s also the highest number ever reported in a fiscal year. OSC notes that cases have risen since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the return to the office. It also comes as many federal employees impacted by the deferred resignation and other workforce reduction programs submitted complaints to OSC.
Hatch Act:
OSC says Hatch Act complaints are an area of “increasing work for OSC, beyond the usual uptick during an election year.” OSC received 694 complaints and resolved 711 complaints in FY 2025, both up several hundred from the prior year.
The Hatch Act Unit also filed four complaints with MSPB compared to one in FY 2024.
USERRA:
OSC protects the rights of National Guard and Reserve members who leave their civilian jobs to perform military duty, under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
There were 19 cases handled in FY 2025, the same as in FY 2024.
OSC also noted that it “worked to proactively train thousands of federal agencies and employees about their rights and obligations under civil service laws by conducting 273 training sessions in FY 2025.”
OSC Leadership Turmoil
These figures come as OSC itself was in turmoil at the leadership position. Shortly after his inauguration, President Trump fired Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, who challenged his dismissal but ultimately left after a legal fight.
And in October, the president withdrew his nomination of Paul Ingrassia to lead the office after lawmakers and groups pushed back over previous statements he made.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is acting head of OSC, with Greer assigning Charles Baldis, a former Senate staffer, to carry out his duties.
