
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC7323]

 
             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
 
                           PART III--EMPLOYEES
 
           Subpart F--Labor-Management and Employee Relations
 
             CHAPTER 73--SUITABILITY, SECURITY, AND CONDUCT
 
                  SUBCHAPTER III--POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
 
Sec. 7323. Political activity authorized; prohibitions

    (a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b), an employee may 
take an active part in political management or in political campaigns, 
except an employee may not--
        (1) use his official authority or influence for the purpose of 
    interfering with or affecting the result of an election;
        (2) knowingly solicit, accept, or receive a political 
    contribution from any person, unless such person is--
            (A) a member of the same Federal labor organization as 
        defined under section 7103(4) of this title or a Federal 
        employee organization which as of the date of enactment of the 
        Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993 had a multicandidate 
        political committee (as defined under section 315(a)(4) of the 
        Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(4)));
            (B) not a subordinate employee; and
            (C) the solicitation is for a contribution to the 
        multicandidate political committee (as defined under section 
        315(a)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
        441a(a)(4))) of such Federal labor organization as defined under 
        section 7103(4) of this title or a Federal employee organization 
        which as of the date of the enactment of the Hatch Act Reform 
        Amendments of 1993 had a multicandidate political committee (as 
        defined under section 315(a)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign 
        Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(4))); or

        (3) run for the nomination or as a candidate for election to a 
    partisan political office; or
        (4) knowingly solicit or discourage the participation in any 
    political activity of any person who--
            (A) has an application for any compensation, grant, 
        contract, ruling, license, permit, or certificate pending before 
        the employing office of such employee; or
            (B) is the subject of or a participant in an ongoing audit, 
        investigation, or enforcement action being carried out by the 
        employing office of such employee.

    (b)(1) An employee of the Federal Election Commission (except one 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate), may not request or receive from, or give to, an employee, a 
Member of Congress, or an officer of a uniformed service a political 
contribution.
    (2)(A) No employee described under subparagraph (B) (except one 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate), may take an active part in political management or political 
campaigns.
    (B) The provisions of subparagraph (A) shall apply to--
        (i) an employee of--
            (I) the Federal Election Commission;
            (II) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
            (III) the Secret Service;
            (IV) the Central Intelligence Agency;
            (V) the National Security Council;
            (VI) the National Security Agency;
            (VII) the Defense Intelligence Agency;
            (VIII) the Merit Systems Protection Board;
            (IX) the Office of Special Counsel;
            (X) the Office of Criminal Investigation of the Internal 
        Revenue Service;
            (XI) the Office of Investigative Programs of the United 
        States Customs Service;
            (XII) the Office of Law Enforcement of the Bureau of 
        Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; or
            (XIII) the National Imagery and Mapping Agency; or

        (ii) a person employed in a position described under section 
    3132(a)(4), 5372, 5372a, or 5372b of title 5, United States Code.

    (3) No employee of the Criminal Division of the Department of 
Justice (except one appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate), may take an active part in political 
management or political campaigns.
    (4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ``active part in 
political management or in a political campaign'' means those acts of 
political management or political campaigning which were prohibited for 
employees of the competitive service before July 19, 1940, by 
determinations of the Civil Service Commission under the rules 
prescribed by the President.
    (c) An employee retains the right to vote as he chooses and to 
express his opinion on political subjects and candidates.

(Added Pub. L. 103-94, Sec. 2(a), Oct. 6, 1993, 107 Stat. 1002; amended 
Pub. L. 103-359, title V, Sec. 501(k), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3430; 
Pub. L. 104-201, div. A, title XI, Sec. 1122(a)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 
Stat. 2687; Pub. L. 106-554, Sec. 1(a)(3) [title VI, Sec. 645(a)(2)], 
Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-170.)

                       References in Text

    The date of enactment of the Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993, 
referred to in subsec. (a)(2)(A), (C), is the date of enactment of Pub. 
L. 103-94, which was approved Oct. 6, 1993.


                            Prior Provisions

    A prior section 7323, Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 525, 
prohibited employee in Executive agency from requesting, receiving from, 
or giving to, an employee, a Member of Congress, or an officer of a 
uniformed service, a thing of value for political purposes and provided 
for removal from service of employee for violation, prior to the general 
revision of this subchapter by Pub. L. 103-94.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (b)(2)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 106-554 substituted ``5372a, or 
5372b'' for ``or 5372a''.
    1996--Subsec. (b)(2)(B)(i)(XIII). Pub. L. 104-201 substituted 
``National Imagery and Mapping Agency'' for ``Central Imagery Office''.
    1994--Subsec. (b)(2)(B)(i)(XIII). Pub. L. 103-359 added subcl. 
(XIII).


                    Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 104-201 effective Oct. 1, 1996, see section 
1124 of Pub. L. 104-201, set out as a note under section 193 of Title 
10, Armed Forces.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 7325, 7326 of this title; 
title 18 sections 602, 603.
