75

Opinion of the Court.

the approval of long practice by the Commission, court decisions upon similar problems and a large body of informed public opinion. Congress and the administrative agencies have authority over the discipline and efficiency of the public service. When actions of civil servants in the judgment of Congress menace the integrity and the competency of the service, legislation to forestall such danger and adequate to maintain its usefulness is required. The Hatch Act is the answer of Congress to this need. We cannot say with such a background that these restrictions are unconstitutional.

Section 15 of the Hatch Act, note 3 above, defines an active part in political management or political campaigns as the same activities that the United States Civil Service Commission has determined to be prohibited to classified civil service employees by the provisions of the Civil Service Rules when § 15 took effect July 19, 1940. 54 Stat. 767. The activities of Mr. Poole, as ward executive committeeman and a worker at the polls, obviously fall within-the prohibitions of $9 of the Hatch Act against taking an active part in political management and political campaigns. They are also covered by the prior determinations of the Commission.38 We need to examine no fur

38 United States Civil Service Commission, Political Activity and Political Assessments, Form 1236, September 1939:

"15. Committees.-Service on or for any political committee or similar organization is prohibited. . . .

"20. Activity at the polls and for candidates.

"It is the duty of an employee to avoid any offensive activity at primary and regular elections. He must refrain from soliciting votes, assisting voters to mark ballots, helping to get out the voters on registration and election days, acting as the accredited checker, watcher, or challenger of any party or faction, assisting in counting the vote, or engaging in any other activity at the polls except the marking and depositing of his own ballot."

FRANKFURTER, J., concurring.

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ther at this time into the validity of the definition of political activity and § 15.39

The judgment of the District Court is accordingly

Affirmed.

MR. JUSTICE MURPHY and MR. JUSTICE JACKSON took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

MR. JUSTICE RUTLEDGE dissents as to Poole for the reasons stated by MR. JUSTICE BLACK. He does not pass upon the constitutional questions presented by the other appellants for the reason that he feels the controversy as to them is not yet appropriate for the discretionary exercise of declaratory judgment jurisdiction.

MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, concurring.

The terms of the Act of August 24, 1937, 50 Stat. 751, 752, 28 U. S. C. § 380a, in the light of its history, have convinced me that this case should be dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

In that Act, Congress put a limit to the time within which a case may be docketed here after an appeal below is allowed. Such a limitation by Congress is in the exercise of its power to regulate the appellate jurisdiction of this Court. It is not within our power to enlarge a limit fixed by Congress unless Congress itself gave the Court such dispensing power.

In allowing a direct appeal to this Court from a district court "under such rules as may-be prescribed," Congress did not mean to give this Court power to defeat the considerations of speed in the disposition of controversies involving the constitutionality of federal legislation which led to the specific provision that a case be docketed "within sixty days from the time such appeal is allowed."

39 United States v. Wurzbach, 280 U. S. 396, 399.

No rule of this Court could disregard the limitations for perfecting an appeal made by Congress. Nor does Rule 47, which was the rule responsive to the Act of August 24, 1937, purport to do so. It merely reasserts the statutory requirement that in a case like this "The record shall be made up and the case docketed in this court within sixty days from the time the appeal is allowed." The introductory part of Rule 47, whereby the Rules of this Court regulating appellate procedure in other cases are adopted 'as far as may be," has ample scope for operation without qualifying the necessity for speedy perfection of an appeal in cases involving constitutionality, so that the validity of acts of Congress may not remain in doubt through protracted litigation. This was a deep concern of Congress and its reason for imposing the sixty-day limitation for perfecting appeals in this class of cases.

But under compulsion of the Court's assumption of jurisdiction, I reach the merits and join in MR. JUSTICE REED's opinion.

MR. JUSTICE BLACK, dissenting.

The sentence in § 9 of the statute, here upheld, makes it unlawful for any person employed in the executive branch of the Federal Government, with minor numerical exceptions,' to "take any active part in political management or in political campaigns." The punishment pro

1 Those excepted are "a part-time officer or part-time employee without compensation or with nominal compensation serving in connection with the existing war effort," commonly designated as "Dollar-a-year men" and "(1) the President and Vice President of the United States; (2) persons whose compensation is paid from the appropriation for the office of the President; (3) heads and assistant heads of executive departments; (4) officers who are appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who determine policies to be pursued by the United States in its relations with foreign powers or in the Nation-wide administration of Federal laws." § 9a; 18 U. S. C. 61h (a), as amended.

BLACK, J., dissenting.

2

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vided is immediate discharge and a permanent ban against reemployment in the same position. The number of federal employees thus barred from political action is approximately three million. Section 12 of the same Act affects the participation in political campaigns of many thousands of state employees. No one of all these millions of citizens can, without violating this law, "take any active part" in any campaign for a cause or for a candidate if the cause or candidate is "specifically identified with any National or State political party." Since under our com

2 "Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be immediately removed from the position or office held by him, and thereafter no part of the funds appropriated by any Act of Congress for such position or office shall be used to pay the compensation of such person.". § 9b; 18 U.S. C. 61h (b).

• All state employees who work for any state agency financed in whole or in part by federal grants or loans are affected by the Act. Section 12a; 18 U.S. C. 611.

In 1945 the Federal Government paid $865,729,569.15 in grants in aid to states, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1945 (1946) 714, and $688,506,157.11 in direct payments to states for the social security program, public roads and emergency maternity and infant care. Id. at 718. Grants to and expenditures within states, providing direct relief, work relief, and other aid such as the Agricultural Adjustment Program, National Housing Agency annual contributions, etc., totaled $1,353,427,735.68. Id. at 721.

In July 1946 the number of persons employed by state and local governments totaled approximately 2,754,000 of whom 641,000 were employed in schools and 2,114,000 were non-school employees. Public Employment in July, 1946, Government Employment, Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1946) 1. A breakdown of county employees is a sample which suggests the proportion state and local whose salaries may be paid in whole or in part by federal funds thus coming under the provisions of this Act. Of a total of 310,000 non-school county employees in the entire country, 77,000 were employed in highway departments; 4,700 in natural resources; 12,600 in health and sanitation; 40,000 in hospitals; 22,000 in public welfare. County Employment in 1944, Government Employment, op cit. supra, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1944) 7.

mon political practices most causes and candidates are espoused by political parties, the result is that, because they are paid out of the public treasury, all these citizens who engage in public work can take no really effective part in campaigns that may bring about changes in their lives, their fortunes, and their happiness.*

We are not left in doubt as to how numerous and varied are the "activities" prohibited. For § 15 sweepingly describes them as "the same activities . . . as the United States Civil Service Commission has heretofore determined are at the time this section takes effect prohibited on the part of employees in the classified civil service of the United States . . . Along with the vague and uncertain prior prohibitions of the Commission, are these things which the Commission had clearly prohibited: serving as an election officer; publicly expressing political views at a party caucus or political gathering for or against any candidate or cause identified with a party;

There are minor exceptions. One concession only is granted those federal employees who live "in the immediate vicinity of the National Capital in the States of Maryland and Virginia or in municipalities the majority of whose voters are employed by the Government of the United States. . ." The Civil Service Commission may "permit" them to participate in campaigns involving the "municipality or political subdivision" in which they reside "to the extent the Commission deems to be in [their] domestic interest . . . ." Section 16; 18 U. S. C. 61p. A general exception permits participation (1) in an "election and the preceding campaign if none of the candidates is to be nominated or elected . . . as representing a [political] party . . . (2) in connection with any question which is not specifically identified with any National or State political party. For the purposes of this section, questions relating to constitutional amendments, referendums, approval of municipal ordinances, and others of a similar character, shall not be deemed to be specifically identified with any National or State political party." § 18, 18 U. S. C. § 61r. The importance and number of political issues thus excepted, e. g. Sunday movies, local school bond issues, location of local parks, election of local officials in whom no political party is interested, are obviously very small.