Gross Violations of Law By Trump Administration

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for yielding. I appreciate the gentleman having this opportunity for us to speak.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Hatch Act is here to keep partisan politics out of our government. It has been in place to over 80 years, and I rise today to make sure that our government serves every single American.

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Hatch Act protects public service from being used for political gain. It means you can't use a government office to help a political campaign or promote a candidate.

I was mayor of Long Beach for 8 years, 2 terms, and I knew it didn't matter how my constituents voted. We had to serve them all equally. We had to put our community above politics.

Mr. Speaker, here in Washington, the Hatch Act was written to keep trust in our government strong. It helps to make sure public officials stay focused on the job that we were elected or hired to do and not on personal or political goals.

Yet, Donald Trump, of course, thinks he is above the law. We have seen President Trump and Elon Musk try to pressure government workers to do their bidding and to help themselves personally and politically.

In his first term, Donald Trump profited from his hotels in violation of the Constitution. Yet, now, his conduct is even more extreme. Just days before his inauguration, Trump launched a meme coin. Buyers can now funnel money directly into Donald Trump's pockets, and it is happening.

We know that he actually offered the top buyers of this coin a private dinner at his golf club. He is basically selling access to the Presidency for cash.

We also saw Donald Trump fire someone whose job was actually to look into and punish Hatch Act violations. By doing that, he removed someone whose job was to hold rulebreakers like himself accountable. It is clear that he doesn't care about anything but himself, and he is putting his MAGA politics ahead of the law. The American people deserve better than this.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I have introduced the Hatch Act Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Act earlier this year. This bill will make sure that we know when the executive branch chooses not to investigate a Hatch Act violation. It requires full transparency so that we can see exactly how and why those decisions are being made.

If the Trump administration or anyone else in power refuses to investigate a clear violation, we will know why, and we will demand accountability. We can't let powerful people break the rules--not Donald Trump, not Donald Trump's family, not Elon Musk, not anyone.

The Hatch Act was made to keep things fair and honest in government. It is a simple rule that protects all of us. We can't let anyone ignore it. By properly enforcing the Hatch Act, we are not just saying that we want to protect our democracy. We are actually doing it.

This protects our government workers, our agencies, and our whole country. There have been extreme violations of the Hatch Act by the Donald Trump Presidency, not just this time in this term, but also in the first term.

We saw how they abused the office for real estate deals outside of government. We saw how foreign governments flowed and sent money to his family when they left the White House. Donald Trump, today, by the use of the meme coin and other means, is profiting off our government. We need to ensure that our government is working openly and fairly for everyone, not just for those with a political agenda.

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