The U.S. Postal Service is barring lawmakers from touring postal facilities ahead of Election day claiming potential violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan activities, raising suspicions about the agency and its lack of transparency as Congress has intensified scrutiny on the USPS and its role in the November election.

Members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation sent a letter to the USPS September 30 saying that they were denied a visit to a USPS processing and distribution center in Kearny, New Jersey, because the visit “places Postal Service employees at an unreasonable risk of violating the Hatch Act,” and the Washington Post reports Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) was also denied a post office visit over potential Hatch Act violations after requesting a visit August 17.

Scott Slusher, a manager in the Postal Service’s government liaison office, wrote in an email to Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) reported by the Post that “the heated nature of campaigns” and employees’ political opinions means “the potential for an employee to knowingly or unwittingly violate the Hatch Act—and be held to account by another employee—is simply too great.”

USPS spokesman David Partenheimer told Forbes that the agency updated its ethics guidance in 2018 to specify that “members of Congress who are on the ballot are not allowed to tour a postal facility within 45 days of a primary or general election,” though 2018 guidance issued by the Office of Special Counsel cited by the Post specifies that even with safeguards against the Hatch Act in place, elected officials can visit federal facilities for an “official purpose, such as receiving briefings, tours, or other official information.”

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