POLITICS OCTOBER 29, 2019 / 7:42 PM / UPDATED 24 MINUTES AGO

Democratic senator seeks review of Pompeo adherence to bar on political activities

Jonathan Landay
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democratic senator on Tuesday asked a U.S. government watchdog to assess Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s compliance with a law barring federal workers from engaging in political activities while acting in their official capacities.

Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cited three official visits Pompeo has made since March to his home state of Kansas in requesting the review by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

“Many in Kansas perceive his appearances in the state to be a de facto campaign effort,” Menendez wrote to the agency head, Henry Kerner, whose responsibilities include investigating allegations of any violations of the 1939 Hatch Act.

News reports have said Pompeo, a former Republican congressman who headed the CIA for just over a year before his current post, is mulling a U.S. Senate run. He has declined to rule one out while saying that he would serve in his post as long as President Donald Trump wanted him.

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