Anthony D'Esposito, a former Republican representative who is now the inspector general of the Labor Department, testifies during a hearing on June 18, 2025.
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A government watchdog nonprofit on Tuesday requested an investigation into whether Anthony D’Esposito, the inspector general for the Labor Department, violated the Hatch Act, a law that restricts the political activity of civil servants. The Project on Government Oversight’s complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, which enforces that law, argues that the former GOP lawmaker ran afoul of ethics rules by seeming to take steps preparing for another congressional run as a confirmed IG, a position that oversees independent audits and investigations of agency operations. “We can't have inspectors general that are seen as attachments of the president or attachments of the agency,” said Joe Spielberger, a senior policy counsel at POGO, in an interview with Government Executive. “[If so] it means that when [the IGs] receive complaints, there's no guarantee that they will take those complaints seriously if they're directed against the executive branch or the party in power.”In its complaint, POGO flagged several potential violations including:
