Bush’s Hatch Act Veto Is Upheld by Senate in Close Vote

The Senate, by two votes, today upheld President Bush’s veto of a bill to broaden the political rights of 3 million government workers.

On a 65-35 vote, lawmakers refused to revise the 51-year-old Hatch Act to remove prohibitions on campaign activities for federal and postal employees. A two-thirds majority was needed to enact the bill into law over Bush’s objections.

The vote gave Bush an unbroken string of 12 victories in veto showdowns with the Democratic-led Congress.

At the White House, presidential press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said: “We are pleased that that vote was sustained. We felt that it incorrectly politicized the civil service.”

The House voted Wednesday to override the veto by a 327-93 vote, well above the two-thirds needed to override Bush’s veto of the bill last Friday.

The legislation would have allowed federal workers, for the first time in five decades, to attend political conventions and caucuses as delegates--on their own time--and speak at rallies on behalf of candidates.

It also would have removed a ban on government workers holding offices in local, state or national political organizations or soliciting donations from co-workers for federal employee and postal union political action committees.

The bill originally passed the Senate on a vote of 67 to 30. Bush won his veto fight when three original Republican supporters--Alfonse D’Amato of New York, Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and Trent Lott of Mississippi--reversed themselves and supported his veto.

In addition, the White House picked up the support of Republican Sens. Pete Wilson of California and Kit Bond of Missouri. Both had missed the vote in May. All 55 Senate Democrats voted to override Bush’s veto.

Just before the vote, Senate GOP leader Bob Dole of Kansas issued an appeal to his colleagues to support Bush, saying supporters of the bill wanted only to give more power to federal employee unions “to raise more money to give to Democrats.”

He said the law was enacted in 1939 “as a remedy to gross patronage abuses in the federal government.”

“The only difference now is that, because of the Hatch Act, these abuses are under control,” he said. “Without it, we’ll be right back where we started from. It probably won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a supporter of the bill, attributed the loss to White House pressure to maintain Bush’s perfect veto record.

“I regret that the merits are being overshadowed to extend the President’s unbroken string of vetoes,” Kennedy said. “It’s time to end the second-class status of federal workers in American democracy.”

One senior Republican, Ted Stevens of Alaska, who voted for the original measure, announced he would continue to support the bill.

“For the first time, I am asking the Senate not to sustain the veto of this president,” said Stevens. “It’s time that our federal employees be made first-class citizens.”