Hatch Act bars federal workers from partisan campaigning to protect merit hiring

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Hatch Act on August 2, 1939, prohibiting most federal civil service employees from engaging in partisan political activities and protecting them from coercion by political supervisors. Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico sponsored the law after investigating allegations that New Deal agency employees were pressured to campaign for Democratic candidates. The act reinforced the wall between the merit-based civil service and partisan politics by making it illegal for supervisors to demand political service or campaign contributions from federal workers. These protections would become a central point of contention nearly 90 years later when critics argued Schedule F would allow politically motivated firings.