Three House Agricultural Subcommittee leaders and 46 other Democratic members of Congress are raising alarms about the administration’s plan to include a letter from President Trump in Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
“Using a federal relief program to distribute a self-promoting letter from the President to American families just 3 months before the presidential election is inappropriate and a violation of federal law,” according to an Aug. 14 letter from the group to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. “We strongly urge you to end the practice immediately.”
A news release about the letter from Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, chairwoman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations, includes a link to a Fox News story on the letter for the food boxes, reportedly the idea of White House adviser Ivanka Trump, who has been promoting the food boxes with visits to companies packing the boxes.
The letter highlights the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on COVID-19 prevention and efforts to support the recovery, according to the Fox News story.
“A public health crisis is not an opportunity for the administration to promote its own political interests,” according to the letter signed by Fudge and other Democrats. “Likewise, a federal food assistance program should not be used as a tool for the President to exploit taxpayer dollars for his re-election campaign.”
The Hatch Act prohibits executive branch employees from using official positions to influence the results of an election, according to the letter.
Among concerns outlined by the Democrats is why the food box letter is on a White House letterhead and not the USDA’s letterhead, and if USDA employees were “instructed or commanded” to participate in any step of making the letter.
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