A U.S. Department of Education press release today says that on Monday, “U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon joined Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and North Carolina native Michael Whatley in central North Carolina to champion the Education Freedom Tax Credit, passed in President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts.”

At a press event Monday in High Point, NC, with Whatley by her side, McMahon criticized North Carolina governor Josh Stein (D) for not signing up the state for the tax credit program, saying it was “unfortunate” that Stein “is preventing families in the Tarheel State from taking advantage of the support this measure will provide….”

Michael Whatley, having won last week’s primary, is the Republican candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat. 

According to a press report, Whatley “spoke briefly” at the event, praising the tax credit program and “blaming former Gov. Roy Cooper, his opponent for U.S. Senate, for rejecting the idea.” 

While cabinet secretaries are permitted by law to speak at campaign events, regulations under the federal Hatch Act prohibit a federal official, including a cabinet secretary like McMahon, from “[u]sing his or her official title while participating in political activity.”

The Department of Education press release today, describing Whatley as just a humble “North Carolina native,” seems to present the Monday event as non-political. 

But Whatley’s presence at the event, and his attack on his Democratic rival there, made the event political. In addition, social media posts about the event by McMahon and the Department highlight Whatley and his campaign.

A Facebook post about the event on McMahon’s “Secretary Linda McMahon” profile, posted Monday night, says, “Happy to join Rep. Virginia Foxx and Michael Whatley for Senate to champion the Education Freedom Tax Credit because North Carolina students and families deserve education freedom.” And the posts links directly to Whatley’s Senate campaign Facebook page. 

That suggests that McMahon, herself a North Carolina native, is using her official title while promoting Whatley’s political campaign. 

On X, the U.S. Department of Education this morning posted from its account, “@EDSecMcMahon was in North Carolina yesterday talking about how the Education Freedom Tax Credit can unlock more opportunities for students!” The post included a clip from a local television news station in North Carolina that features sound bites from McMahon and from Whatley, who was labelled in the piecec as “Candidate U.S. Senate.” McMahon retweeted that post from what she calls her “Personal account.”

McMahon’s official Secretary of Education X account, meanwhile, this afternoon posted a collage of news headlines about the Monday event, including one reading, “Whatley, GOP Leaders advocate for Trump Administration education tax credit in High Point.”

The Department of Education has not responded to a request for comment.

In both the first and current Trump administrations, officials have repeatedly appeared to violate the Hatch Act. Donald Trump has gutted the agency within the Justice Department that is charged with investigating complaints of Hatch Act violations and also gutted the Merit Systems Protection Board, the quasi-independent panel charged with adjudicating Hatch Act claims and imposing penalties for violations.