larryyellen's Blog

Wednesday night, we revealed that at least two employees in the Social Security department are under investigation for possible violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits political activity by federal employees. We mentioned that the penalties can range from termination down to a 30-day suspension without pay; what I didn't have time to point out is that the presumptive penalty if convicted is termination, it's then up to the employee to seek a lesser penalty. Prosecutors say they have not yet officially opened a case file for the two employees; the investigation is still preliminary.