The importance of the Hatch Act, very simply, is that it& #39;s meant to stop the government from playing favorites.

A federal employee can& #39;t be required to perform partisan tasks in their official duties, a WH official can& #39;t use their government perch to promote a private business.

The Hatch Act isn& #39;t sexy and its immediate purposes aren& #39;t always apparent, but on the grand scale it has probably prevented an enormous amount of government corruption in its 80+ year life.

It prevents patronage and aims to create a government that works for all its citizens.

The Hatch Act is not fun for politicians but neither are laws preventing bribery, racketeering, vote-buying and electioneering.

The aim of a govt ethics law isn& #39;t to maximize comfort and political expedience for its subjects, it& #39;s to maximize justice for the American people.

The OSC and White House under Trump haven’t disregarded the Hatch Act completely. Career civil servants – with whom the admin has often had a chilly relationship – still get punished.

High-level political appointees rarely do. So they see the value but enforcement is arbitrary.