The Steady State Files Hatch Act Complaint Against Defense Secretary Hegseth Over Iowa Campaign Fundraiser

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 11, 2026

PDF IS AVAILABLE HERE

Washington, D.C. — The Steady State, a nonpartisan organization of more than 430 former national security officials, today asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to investigate whether Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth violated the Hatch Act at a ticketed partisan fundraiser in Des Moines on August 17, 2026.

From the stage at “Operation Top Nunn: A Salute to the Troops,” a fundraiser for Representative Zach Nunn where admission ran from $26 to $3,500, the Secretary urged the audience to return Nunn to Congress while invoking his own office. He said “the biggest job I have is to ensure that my department is properly funded,” and told the audience, “we need those reinforcements in Washington, D.C. We need him to continue to be there.”

Three-quarters of the way through, he added a personal-capacity disclaimer — not as an opening or a standalone statement, but as a subordinate clause: “There’s an amplifying effect to that kind of leadership in Congress that matters a lot to me, even though, according to the lawyers, I’m only here in a personal capacity today.” He then described it as a formality: “I had to say that for full disclaimer, for the lawyers.”

The Hatch Act bars federal employees, Cabinet officers included, from using their official authority or influence to affect the result of an election, and that prohibition has no exception for Senate-confirmed appointees. A separate provision permits such officials to engage in political activity otherwise barred, but only if “the costs associated with that political activity are not paid for by money derived from the Treasury of the United States.” According to Dan Lamothe from The Washington Post, the Secretary “used taxpayer-funded military aircraft for the trip.” The complaint asks OSC to determine whether the Treasury was reimbursed, by whom and when. It does not assert that reimbursement did not occur.

The complaint asks for the aircraft’s full itinerary, how each segment was coded, and what ethics advice preceded the appearance, and asks that those records be preserved now. Asked how it reconciles the appearance with its own guidance barring Senate-confirmed officials from speaking at political fundraisers, the Pentagon told The Gazette: “We have nothing to provide beyond the Secretary’s remarks.” The event also had a genuine veterans-support component, which the complaint does not question.

The Steady State filed a complaint concerning the Secretary’s May 2026 campaign appearance in Kentucky on July 7, 2026; OSC closed that matter by letter dated the following day. The August 17 record is materially different: the Secretary described the Department as “my department,” said he had begun that morning “literally in the Oval Office,” and was introduced from the stage by the office he holds. We have asked OSC to confirm receipt and say whether the complaint has been docketed for investigation.

The complaint as filed is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cF4qJu-B2KXDAo-s9TIQG_1Bw89ukLvZ/view?usp=share_link

Enclosures are available on request.

About The Steady State

The Steady State is an organization of more than 430 former national security professionals committed to defending American democracy from rising authoritarian threats. Its members include former ambassadors and senior State Department officials, senior CIA, Defense officials, FBI and DHS leaders, USAID and NSC staff, and senior congressional staff from both Republican and Democratic administrations.

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