Do Not Link to Political Sites

Classification:

[x] Standard

Categories:

[x] Things to Avoid

Standard:

HHS must not link to clearly partisan sites, including political party sites, candidate sites, or PAC sites.  These include sites at xxx.senate.gov and xxx.house.gov, where xxx is an individual Senator or Representative. 

Rationale:

HHS must be impartial when providing information to the public.  Federal agency employees may not engage in partisan activities, and must consider whether their impartiality may be questioned whenever their involvement in a particular matter involving specific parties might affect certain business relationships. Directing web pages to political parties, candidates or existing Congressional sites is not considered to be impartial. 

“All federal public websites must comply with existing laws that prohibit federal public websites from being used for direct or indirect lobbying. Organizations should review the relevant law to ensure that their public websites meet the full range of requirements.”  5 CFR, 2635.501-503

 Sources:

United States Office of Government Ethics, 5 CFR, 2635.501-503;

“Prohibition of Lobbying” Title 18, Section 1913 of the U.S. Code

Exemptions:

N/A

Requirements (content & style):

N/A

Related Standards:

N/A

Related Guidelines:

N/A

Checklist:

Do not link to political sites.