{"id":96,"date":"2026-05-28T11:38:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:38:59","slug":"labor-oversight-official-faces-ethics-complaint-for-apparent-congressional-campaign-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96","title":{"rendered":"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>A government watchdog nonprofit on Tuesday requested an investigation into whether Anthony D\u2019Esposito, the inspector general for the Labor Department, violated the Hatch Act, a law that restricts the political activity of civil servants.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=94\">Disability advocates sue over website accessibility delays<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Project on Government Oversight\u2019s complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, which enforces that law, argues that the former GOP lawmaker ran afoul of ethics rules by seeming to take steps preparing for another congressional run as a confirmed IG, a position that oversees independent audits and investigations of agency operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can&#8217;t have inspectors general that are seen as attachments of the president or attachments of the agency,\u201d said Joe Spielberger, a senior policy counsel at POGO, in an interview with <em>Government Executive<\/em>. \u201c[If so] it means that when [the IGs] receive complaints, there&#8217;s no guarantee that they will take those complaints seriously if they&#8217;re directed against the executive branch or the party in power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In its complaint, POGO flagged several potential violations including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>D\u2019Esposito\u2019s campaign committee is still active based on the Federal Election Commission\u2019s website.<\/li>\n<li>Shortly after he was sworn in, he said during a radio interview that: \u201cthere\u2019s no question that we\u2019re exploring\u201d a run for Congress,\u201d \u201cwe\u2019re doing the polling [and] we\u2019re talking to people on the ground and we want to make sure that the resources are going to be there,\u201d his Democratic successor is a \u201cdisastrous member of Congress\u201d and that it\u2019s important for Republican candidates to have funding to deliver effective campaign messaging.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Media reports that D\u2019Esposito was planning to announce his candidacy.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Under the Hatch Act, there is a prohibition on federal employees from being candidates in partisan elections, which  such as conducting polls, having campaign strategy meetings or authorizing others to take such actions on their behalf. The law also bars government workers from engaging in political activity in their official capacity and from soliciting or receiving political contributions. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While D\u2019Esposito ultimately opted not to enter the race, Spielberger argued that an OSC investigation is still warranted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis decision to withdraw his name from potential candidacy doesn&#8217;t absolve him from what are potentially previous violations of the Hatch Act,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>POGO\u2019s complaint also notes that D\u2019Esposito frequently shares political social media posts, such as ones criticizing Democratic immigration policies, praising congressional Republicans and echoing slogans associated with President Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Under federal law, IGs are required to be appointed \u201cwithout regard to political affiliation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=92\">OPM proposes requiring all feds to sign an NDA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In an interview with <em>Bloomberg Law<\/em>published on Wednesday, however, D\u2019Esposito said that he didn\u2019t see any issue with his public statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m never going to shy away from the fact that I\u2019m a conservative Republican,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m never going to shy away from the fact that I support the agenda, especially as it pertains to this office, just because I want to maintain an appearance. That\u2019s absolutely ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In April, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington nonprofit requested that the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, an oversight body for the watchdogs, investigate D\u2019Esposito over matters similarly raised by POGO.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump recently nominated Charles Baldis to lead the OSC. Baldis is a former Senate staffer and current chief counsel at the agency who has been the designee of the OSC\u2019s acting chief since spring 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s first OSC nominee, Paul Ingrassia, withdrew in October 2025 following objections from Senate Republicans over reports of sexual harassment accusations and racist text messages.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In March 2025, Trump removed the incumbent special counsel \u2014 Hampton Dellinger, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden \u2014 before the end of his five-year term. On one of the first days of his second term, the president also fired , including the DOL IG who D\u2019Esposito later replaced.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The DOL OIG did not respond to a request for comment, but D\u2019Esposito has previously testified that he is \u201cwell aware of the Hatch Act.\u201d<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=91\">Supreme Court rejects lower court bid to review immigration judge gag order<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While Anthony D&#8217;Esposito decided not to run for his former House seat, federal employees are not permitted to be candidates in partisan elections, which includes taking preliminary actions for a campaign. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oversight"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves - Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While Anthony D&#039;Esposito decided not to run for his former House seat, federal employees are not permitted to be candidates in partisan elections, which includes taking preliminary actions for a campaign.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T11:38:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\"},\"headline\":\"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T11:38:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96\"},\"wordCount\":711,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Oversight\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96\",\"name\":\"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves - Market Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T11:38:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=96#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Market Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves - Market Relocation Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves - Market Relocation Report","og_description":"While Anthony D'Esposito decided not to run for his former House seat, federal employees are not permitted to be candidates in partisan elections, which includes taking preliminary actions for a campaign.","og_url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96","og_site_name":"Market Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-05-28T11:38:59+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9"},"headline":"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves","datePublished":"2026-05-28T11:38:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96"},"wordCount":711,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg","articleSection":["Oversight"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96","url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96","name":"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves - Market Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-28T11:38:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fa23f2974638e032f53ec17ffa005ec6.jpg","width":400,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=96#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/","name":"Market Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}