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By Beth Stibal |

Ethics Debate Ensues as Trump Plans to Give Acceptance Speech from White House

President Trump will not go very far at all to accept his party’s nomination for another term in office, according to a report from The New York Post.

Instead, the commander-in-chief will give his Aug. 27 acceptance speech right there on the lawn of the White House.

Trump told The Post, “I’ll probably be giving my speech at the White House because it is a great place. It’s a place that makes me feel good. It makes the country feel good.”

Concerns by some critics, even Republicans, that the President could violate the 1939 Hatch Act by giving his speech there appear to have been addressed Wednesday.

That’s because the Office of Special Counsel, which oversees the Hatch Act, submitted its opinion to a congressional committee this week, in preparation for the event.

The letter came from Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the U.S. Hatch Act Unit. It states, “The President and Vice President are not covered by any of the provisions of the Hatch Act. Accordingly, the Hatch Act does not prohibit President Trump from delivering his RNC acceptance speech on White House grounds.”

She goes on to say that the Hatch Act does have implications for other White House employees.

However, New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat who serves as chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, says the issue still brings with it some concerns.

Maloney released a statement on Thursday which reads in part, “As this guidance from the Office of Special Counsel makes clear, President Trump’s idea to host this campaign event at the White House raises serious legal concerns for White House employees.”

“While President Trump has ignored the law repeatedly throughout his time in office, surely he can find a way to accept the Republican nomination without putting federal employees in legal jeopardy,” Maloney continues.

Despite the matter apparently being settled, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows also told CNN this week that he prefers the president make the speech from a location other than the White House.