President Biden’s Department of Transportation is being slammed on social media over a meme promoting his Build Back Better agenda with some people accusing the department of improperly lobbying.
The meme, posted by the Department of Transportation on Friday, is in the form of a popular meme format where a man and a woman are texting each other in bed from different places.
😊🙌🙌👩✈️👨🏭👩🔧👷♀️👷 pic.twitter.com/vBVanOBCuK
— U.S. Department of Transportation (@USDOT) November 26, 2021
The meme was criticized by many online from those who didn’t find it funny as well as from those who suggested the department had improperly lobbied for specific legislation, in this case the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill being debated in Congress.
“This appears to be lobbying,” former California Assemblyman and Vice-President of the Texas Public Policy Foundation tweeted. “I didn’t think federal agencies were allowed to be so blatant in promoting specific legislation. The Secretary of Transportation can, of course, but the DOT’s official website? Seems unusual.”
Congress has enacted federal laws on the use of federal funds that prohibit agencies and employees from “lobbying” the Congress or the public in favor of legislation that is pending in Congress although it is unclear if the tweet from the Department of Transportation violates that law.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which typically investigates Hatch Act violations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was accused of a Hatch Act violation earlier this year and promised to “choose my words more carefully” in the future after commenting on the Virginia gubernatorial race from the White House press room podium.