General Information

Introduction to OSC

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. Our basic authorities come from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

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Divisions

Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPP)

Protecting Federal Government Employees and Applicants from Prohibited Personnel Practices, including Reprisal for Whistleblowing




Whistleblower Disclosures (Disclosures)

Providing a Safe Channel for Government Employees to Disclose Wrongdoing





Political Activity (Hatch Act)

Enforcing Restrictions on the Political Activity of Federal Government Employees and Employees of Certain State and Local Government Agencies



USERRA

Protecting the Employment and Reemployment Rights of Veterans, Guardsmen, and Reservists




HEADLINES:

OSC Award Ceremony


Latest OSC Press Release:

Special Counsel Lerner Announces that OSC has Obtained an Order from the U.S Merit Systems Protection Board that Stays the Firing of a Federal Whistlblower


Hatch Act Advisory Opinion

OSC’s Latest Guidance Regarding Pictures of President Obama in the Federal Workplace Now That He Is Officially a Candidate for Reelection


Hatch Act Report

Investigation of Political Activities by White House and Federal Agency Officials During the 2006 Midterm Elections.


Notice

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has made corrections to its report titled Investigation of Political Activities by White House and Federal Agency Officials During the 2006 Midterm Elections. After issuance of the report, former Secretary and current United States Senator Mike Johanns notified OSC that on page 91 of the report OSC had erroneously noted that one of the three events he attended in early November 2006, was incorrectly classified by the Department of Agriculture as official. Former Secretary Johanns produced documentary evidence that the event was correctly classified as political and that appropriate reimbursement to the U.S. Treasury was sought and received. He also produced documentation that the political trips he took on behalf of candidate Mark Kennedy mentioned on pages 91 and 92 of the report were, in fact, reimbursed. OSC regrets these errors and has corrected the text on its website and sent corrected copies of the report to each of the previous recipients.

Former Secretary Johanns also disagreed with OSC’s conclusion that the remaining two events mentioned on page 91 of the report, namely the Albuquerque facility event (November 1, 2006) and the roundtable event (November 2, 2006) were improperly classified as official. Based on the circumstances discussed in the report, however, OSC continues to believe that these events should have been classified as political, and that reimbursement to the U.S. Treasury should have been made.