There are just under 24,000,000 government employees in the United States. Their livelihood depends on tax revenue and citizen dependence on government programs. When retirees and dependents are included, it amounts to about half of all US voters. No politician, whether local, state or national, can ignore such a huge single-issue voting block.
Government employees are seldom recognized publicly as a voting block with common interest in expanding the role of government at all levels. News stories identify many special interest groups but refuse to specifically identify the dominant special interest group in America - Government Employees. They gain power without oversight of any kind and are responsible only to their own self-interest.
Of the 23,799,869 Government employees reported by Debt Clock (see link at top of page), only about 4,000,000 work for the Federal Government. The remaining 20,000,000 work for state and local governments. That means the political issues are local, pitting neighbor against neighbor.
Of the 4,000,000 Federal employees, about 2,000,000 are "disclosed" (meaning they are covered by Civil Service rules) and another 2,000,000 are "undisclosed" (Department of Defense and active military). That fact comes from the key findings of "Mapping The Swamp - OpenTheBooks Oversight Report".
The Hatch Act of 1939 is "... a United States federal law whose main provision prohibits employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president, vice-president, and certain designated high-level officials, from engaging in some forms of political activity". It has been amended several times but the basic prohibition remains intact. It is routinely ignored in recent times. Federal employees have become boldly and openly political, especially since Donald Trump was elected President of the USA.
To get some idea of what Federal employees think of the Constitution and the Hatch Act, take a few minutes to watch these undercover videos (about 15 min each) from Project Veritas:
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Department of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS)
