Some federal agencies are restricting when employees can take administrative leave to vote, and are setting stricter time limits than governmentwide policies set by the Trump administration.
Trump administration officials say the current policy on leave for voting is the same as the Biden administration’s — except for a now-rescinded provision that allowed federal employees to take administrative leave to serve as non-partisan poll workers.
Former President Joe Biden signed an executive order in March 2021 that allowed federal employees to take up to four hours of leave to vote, and another four hours of leave to serve as poll workers or poll observers. The executive order also directed some agencies to take steps to support voter turnout.
A week after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that rescinded several Biden-era policies — including one that expanded leave for federal employees to vote.
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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Federal News Network that the Trump Administration “strongly supports federal employees’ right to vote, as well as their right to participate in other election-related activities on their own time.”
However, Jackson said federal employees should not be given four hours of leave to vote, or another four hours to participate in “poll-related activities on the taxpayer’s dime.”
“Millions of hardworking Americans around the country find time to cast their ballots on or ahead of election day — even those who don’t work for the government and enjoy the Administration’s policy granting leave to vote when employees lack any other opportunities to do so,” Jackson said.
Some agency-specific policies, however, go beyond governmentwide guidance that the Office of Personnel Management released this summer, which generally allowed for up to three hours of administrative leave for federal employees to vote in some circumstances.
The Environmental Protection Agency, in an agencywide memo last week, said “employees generally are not entitled to administrative leave to vote during work hours if there is sufficient time before or after the workday to vote.”
The EPA memo, obtained by Federal News Network, states some employees may receive up to an hour of administrative leave to vote, if there is “no reasonable opportunity for an employee to vote outside of their regular work hours,” and cannot vote by absentee ballot or by early voting on a non-workday.
“Only the actual time necessary may be authorized (i.e., if the employee only needs one hour, they may not be authorized additional administrative leave),” the memo states.
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An EPA employee told Federal News Network that agency staff feel the new policy “is a move to suppress federal employees from voting in this election.”
An EPA spokesperson told Federal News Network that the agency is “working to diligently implement President Trump’s executive orders, including Executive Order 14148.”
Meanwhile, a General Services Administration employee told Federal News Network that colleagues put in a request last week for administrative leave to vote, but were denied and told “admin leave for voting is no longer permitted.”
A GSA spokesperson told Federal News Network that “GSA employees who wish to vote in elections are free to do so outside of work hours or during the workday by using approved leave options.”
The spokesperson added that “admin leave may be granted for voting if the poll timing provides no reasonable opportunity for the employee to vote because of their work schedule.”
A second GSA employee told Federal News Network that they and their coworkers plan to use normal leave or vote outside working hours.
According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Forest Service employees have been told that they are “not authorized to use administrative leave to vote or participate in voting-related activities” without exception, although a similar policy has not been announced at other parts of the Agriculture Department.
PEER also said the Interior Department has removed voting leave guidance from its website, and has not posted an updated policy.
PEER Executive Director Tim Whitehouse said these policies create an “agency-by-agency hodgepodge” that is inconsistent and difficult to understand.
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“Public servants’ exercise of their rights as citizens to vote is something which should be embraced, not impeded,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “Federal employees deemed essential during this prolonged shutdown and working extended shifts, sometimes without pay, should not also be forced to take unpaid leave to vote.
Federal News Network reached out to the Forest Service, USDA and the Interior Department for comment.
OPM told agencies in guidance this July that they may grant “limited amounts of administrative leave” — generally no more than three hours — in cases where employees would otherwise have “no reasonable opportunity” to vote on Election Day because of their work schedule.
The guidance also allows agencies to grant administrative leave for federal employees to vote if early voting hours are the same as, or exceed, voting hours on Election Day.
A White House official told Federal News Network that OPM’s revised guidance on voting leave is the same as the pre-Biden guidance on voting leave, except we removed the provision allowing employees free time off to serve as a non-partisan poll worker.
The official said that under the current policy, administrative leave may still be provided where an employee would otherwise lack an opportunity to vote.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email jheckman@federalnewsnetwork.com, or reach out on Signal at jheckman.29
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