WEBVTT

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Good morning , everyone . I appreciate

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everyone taking the time to participate

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in today's town hall . First , let me

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say thank you to all of you . On behalf

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of Secretary Esper , Deputy Secretary

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Norquist , thank you for your

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dedication , your talent , your

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resilience and your discipline , and

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leading the Department of Defense to

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support our service members and to

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serve by example , Cove in 19 has

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impacted all of us . One of the hardest

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adjustments this year has been

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restricting in person interactions that

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air so vital to a healthy and vibrant

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teams . But you have persevered . And

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thanks to you , we have made

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significant forward progress on the 10

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priority lines of effort in

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implementing the national defense

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strategy . We haven't aggressive work

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schedule for the rest of the term , and

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I'm counting on your discipline and

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your determination to finish with

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excellence . And while you're doing so ,

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I want to acknowledge each of you is

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also protecting your personal health

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and safety , the health and safety of

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your families and your loved ones . I

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ask you also look out for your fellow

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colleagues , particularly those

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colleagues whose individual

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circumstances are restricting in person

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interactions with most people at this

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time . The business in front of us this

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morning is to have a team conversation

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about our obligation during the

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election season . In a moment , I'm

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going to pass the microphone to Scott

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Thompson , who's availability and

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accessibility and helping all of us

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uphold . Our ethical standards are

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deeply appreciated . And I also want to

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acknowledge right now , Tom , you're

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whose leadership in implementing the

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department's statutory requirements for

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transition planning are also deeply

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appreciated . Thank you , Tom . And

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thank you , Scott . Before I do ,

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though , turn things over to Scott . I

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want to invoke Secretary s first

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message to our team in February on this

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topic . And I quote all department

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defense personnel must be steadfast in

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our commitment to defend the

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Constitution and our nation's

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democratic principles . As citizens ,

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we exercise our right to vote and to

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participate in government . However ,

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his public servants who have taken an

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oath to defend these principles , we

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uphold diodes longstanding tradition of

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remaining a political as we carry out

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our official responsibilities .

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Maintaining the hard earned trust and

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confidence of the American people

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requires us to avoid any action that in

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comply , endorsement of a political

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party , political candidate or campaign

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by any element of the department . End

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quote . At this time , I'd like to turn

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it over to Scott Thompson . Thank you .

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Thank you , Chief Staff . Thank you ,

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Mr Muir . Um , senior officials .

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Welcome those of you online . Welcome .

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I'm Scott Thompson from the D . O D

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standards of conduct office . My office

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is in the office of general counsel ,

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so I work for Mr Paul Ni . And my

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purpose this morning is just to review

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the rules related toe political

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activity . I'm sure there's gonna be

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questions particularly , you know , as

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we move through the campaign season .

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So my contact information is in the

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slide . We're always available to any

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of you don't hesitate to reach out a

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zoo . We stepped through some of this ,

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Um , remember in D o d were a little

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bit different . Azzan chief of staff

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indicated . And when she read the

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secretary's message , we're a little

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bit different because we're one of the

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few agencies that have made a choice

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several years ago to further restrict

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employees . So we actually have a

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couple of different categories of

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personnel . Um , the rules are

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different slightly . Um , the good news

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is , if you're a schedule C and you're

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not in an intelligence agency . Your

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rules are the same as the general

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Service employees . But for any non

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career SCS and Senate confirmed

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officials and career SCS , you're in

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the further restricted category . So I

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just put that out there , um , as a

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reminder , because you may have

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colleagues and other agencies who are

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working on the campaign or , you know ,

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involved politically , and that may be

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perfectly okay under their agencies

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rules . Um , but it may not be

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perfectly okay for you . So I guess the

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best advice I could give this morning

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is if in your if you are in doubt ,

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just get a hold of my office and , you

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know , we're more than happy to assist

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you . So remember , when we're talking

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about civilian employees in the

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department , um , the law we're looking

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at is the hatch act , all right . And ,

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uh , that restricts federal employees

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from participating in partisan

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political activity . What is that ? It

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means any activity directed toward the

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success or failure of a political party .

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A candidate for partisan political

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office in any partisan political group

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key for the Department of Defense . And

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if you just keep this one rule in mind .

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You know you'll avoid 90% or more of

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the problems for all employees . We

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can't conduct any political activity

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while we're on duty While we're in the

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federal workplace using our government

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equipment and in the tele work

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environment . I know that that line may

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seem a little bit blurred , but it's

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really not . If you're using government ,

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I t . And you're on the government's

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clock . You're on the government's time .

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You're in the government workplace , so

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just be careful . Remember , don't

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engage in partisan political activity .

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And for all of our teleworkers out

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there , you know when you are having

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those Microsoft teams or Skype sessions ,

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pay attention to what's behind you .

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Because if you have your favorite

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candidates poster up in your home

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office and now you're transmitting on a

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on a government channel . Um , with

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that behind you , you know that could

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potentially could potentially run afoul .

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So just have good situational awareness .

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Do things on your own time on your own

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equipment and outside outside of the

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federal workplace as well .

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All again , these air rules that apply

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to all employees we can't fundraise .

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We can't solicit or accept campaign

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contributions . We can't ask our

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personnel to do that . I mean , true

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case There is somebody in another

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agency . Fortunately , a supervisor who

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gave their employees a bonus and then

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encouraged that employees to donate to

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a campaign . So , um , we're a little

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smarter here in the department of Fence .

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We've not had any such case , but again ,

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just remember that , um , you know ,

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I'd love to tell all of you that you

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don't have to contribute on , do you

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Don't have to contribute , but you can

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contribute . The rules don't restrict

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you from contributing to a campaign .

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You just can't actively participate in

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the fundraising for our further

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restricted personnel , like myself and

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most of you . That air here personally

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in the audience . Um , we can't work on

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the campaign . Um , in any form .

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Really ? We can't help write the

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speeches . We can't speak at rallies .

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We certainly can't speak at fundraisers .

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And we can't perform any volunteer work

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for the candidate . So we could be a

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poll watcher . We could be an election

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judge , for example , if Fairfax County

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asked me to go and be a poll watcher ,

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I could do that because that's not a

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that's not advancing the success or

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failure of a party . But if the if the

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Republican Party of the Democratic

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Party asked me to hand out campaign

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literature for one of their candidates ,

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I couldn't do it because I'm I'm

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further restricted . So again , just be

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aware of that . If you're a scared see

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or a general service career employees ,

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you have a little more leeway to work

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on the campaign . If you're thinking

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about being politically active in the

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campaign , just send a note . Send a

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note to SOCO or email addresses in

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these slides , and that way you'll

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remove any any doubt that you're

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allowed to do what you want to do . But

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as a as a sketchy employees again , if

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you're not one of the intelligence

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agencies , you may have some leeway to

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actually work in the campaign again .

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That's got to be on your own time . So

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if you're on a leave of absence , you

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are still a federal employee , and

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that's something that we would need to

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talk through . You definitely would

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wanna get some advice from my office

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before you march out , even even in a

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leave of absence status while you're

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still a federal employees to make sure

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that your you're staying within the

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rules . What else can you dio ? You can

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have yard signs . All of us can have

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yard signs . We could all have bumper

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stickers . Mr . Nye likes this one

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because the rules say a bumper sticker .

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That's what the Office of Special

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Counsel has said . So we can all have a

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bumper sticker for , I guess , as many

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candidates as we want . We just can't

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plaster our car with it , and you can

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have that bumper sticker here on the

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federal reservation . So don't worry

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about your employees that have bumper

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stickers . It's okay if you drive by

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and they have a yard sign . That's

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perfectly fine . I hope I've answered

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some of your basic questions again .

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I'm I'm always available . Most of you

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know how to reach me directly , and ,

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you know , again our email addresses in

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the slides , and there's no question

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that's too simple . We're happy to

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answer any of them . And I just want to

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thank all of you for what you do Thio

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do for the department . Um , every day

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and it's just a privilege to work with

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each one of you and your staffs . Thank

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you .

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Thank you . Scott . Good morning ,

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ladies and gentlemen to the leadership

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in the room and those on video

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teleconference of those streaming live .

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Thank you for joining us this morning .

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My name's Tom . You're I'm the acting

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director of administration in the

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office of the Chief Management's Office ,

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as well as the director of Washington

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Headquarters services . But more

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importantly for this discussion this

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morning , I am your lead for the D . O

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D . Transition task force and your

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representative on the Interagency

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Transition Directors Council that meets

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by statute that determines the

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statutory requirements that ensures

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that the department lives up to our

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statutory requirements as part of the

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Presidential Transition Act . My job is

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to ensure the successful transition for

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the remainder of this administration ,

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a second term of administration , every

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change in administration to ensure that

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you have the resource is necessary for

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you and your teams . For those in video

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teleconference that you've got the

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right guidance resource is on . I

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know we're pulling together my thanks

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to the team once again for your

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leadership and your participation in

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our senior steering group . Meetings

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are transition assistance coordinator

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meetings . I believe we have the right

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team to deliver the right products to

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ensure that we're meeting the secretary

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defenses Guidance , as the chief of

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staff mentioned earlier to ensure an

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orderly transition

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of government . A za part of the

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president's Searchers enact discussions

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but more importantly , to ensure that

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we're here to execute the national

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defense strategy and support of our

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nation . If you have any questions ,

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particularly those in video

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teleconference on those dialing in

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today , please don't hesitate to reach

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me or any of the d . O . D . Transition

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task force members . We're here to

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support you in your execution of your

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mission , your execution of our

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national defense strategy and to

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support your teams . That will be

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followed by Miss Jon Stewart , Chief of

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staff . Thank you .

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Thank you , Tom . And thank you , Scott .

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In closing , I'd like to introduce the

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new head of the White House liaison

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office you joined this week . Josh

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White House . I'm sure you're all going

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to welcome into the building and help

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me and supporting him as he settles

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into his new role . Thank you all again

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for your time this morning . Finish the

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term strong onward . Have a great day