The Hatch Act was passed in 1939 after a scandal involving Democratic candidates in the 1938 election using Works Progress Administration workers to help with their campaigns and dangled agency jobs to help win votes.

The act was amended in 1993 and again in 2012 to relax prohibitions on federal employees engaging in political activity. While both amendments weakened the law, they did not change the basic tenet of the law which is prohibiting the engagement in political activity while on duty, using federal resources, or wearing a uniform.

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