White House says cabinet secretaries can't speak at Dem convention
The White House is barring cabinet secretaries from speaking at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia later this month, citing concerns about keeping President Obama's final months in office and the administration's official duties separate from the campaign that's dominating national headlines.
Four years ago, five cabinet secretaries--Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki--spoke at the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte, where Mr. Obama was nominated for re-election.
But this time around, the New York Times reports that White House officials feel the need to clearly draw a line between official duties and the role Mr. Obama and his staff play in the campaign.
"This is largely an effort to delineate as clearly as possible the public, official governing responsibilities we have at the White House, and separate that from politics," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the Times.
It's not as if Mr. Obama won't be involved in the race at all--indeed, he's appearing with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at their first joint campaign event in North Carolina this week. And he's criticized presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump both at home and abroad.
The prohibition could cause an issue for several cabinet secretaries this year who have been active for Clinton on the campaign trail--several of whom are reportedly on Clinton's list of potential running mates, like Vilsack, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
Under the Hatch Act, federal employees can only be involved in partisan politics on their own time and at their own expense--a rule that sometimes gets complicated when it comes to administration officials. When Mr. Obama campaigns with Clinton in North Carolina this week, for example, he and Clinton's campaign will be splitting the cost of Air Force One's trip there and back.