Justice Department memo lets the attorney general, FBI director and U.S. attorneys campaign for candidates in a personal capacity

A memo from DOJ's top ethics official, Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Lauria, exempts Senate-confirmed appointees from the department's stricter political-activity limits: they may speak at rallies, endorse candidates, canvass and serve as party officers, PBS News first reported. What actually changed. The Hatch Act (the 1939 law limiting federal workers' politics) already exempts these officials from its campaigning ban; DOJ calls the memo a clarification. The shift is in-house: attorneys general held appointees to a stricter standard for 20-plus years, said Joseph Tirrell, DOJ's ethics chief until he was dismissed last year, and Pam Bondi's March guidance still told them to avoid a state shortly before its election. The new memo says only that such appearances "warrant heightened scrutiny" (PBS). What stays banned. Using official authority to sway an election, and asking for money: they may attend a fundraiser or give, but not host one or collect donations (CBS). Career staff keep the stricter rules. Tirrell says Blanche's appearances still break the official-authority ban; Blanche says he is "not in any way violating any rule or law."