Rubio urges investigation into White House employees over Israel-Hamas ceasefire letter

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio called for an investigation into more than 500 White House employees who reportedly called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in an open letter to the president.

Rubio’s office argued in a press release that the employees should be held “accountable” for supporting “pro-Hamas policies,” which they said may also be in violation of the Hatch Act, a policy that prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan political activities.

The open letter claims that those signing it are a “coalition of Biden-Harris Administration political appointees and civil servants” who hold position across domestic and foreign policy spheres.

”We call on President Biden to urgently demand a ceasefire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip,” the open letter read.

Because of this, Rubio sent letters to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and U.S. Inspectors Generals to “hold Biden administration staff accountable for supporting pro-Hamas policies.”

In his letter to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel Acting Special Counsel Karen Gorman, he pushed for the investigation to specifically review ways in which the group violated the Hatch Act by potentially coordinating the letter with “partisan political actors and/or groups,” such as the Democratic National Committee.

”If this suspicion were to be true, it would constitute major violation of the Hatch Act, which places certain prohibitions on partisan political activities for federal employees while at work,” Rubio’s letter read.

The letters sent to cabinet-level Inspectors Generals urge an investigation detailing which federal employees signed the letter and the extent to which they “used their roles to work against policies that support the State of Israel.”

”Because the letter claims to have been signed by employees across 40 different government agencies and by political appointees confirmed by the U.S. Senate, there is ample opportunity for the signers to abuse their positions to carry out their self-declared goal,” the letter read.

“These range from officials at the U.S. Department of State insisting on prolonging the review periods of arms sales to Israel to supervisors denying promotion and salary increases to employees that support Israel,” it added.