A federal agency recommended counselor Kellyanne Conway be fired for repeatedly violating the Hatch Act, but didn't offer similar guidance for Obama-era officials cited for Hatch Act rule-breaking.

The Office of the Special Counsel, headed by Henry Kerner, said last week Conway had repeatedly violated the federal law during official media appearances through her endorsements of President Trump’s reelection and attacks on Democrats and recommended she be removed as counselor.

But that investigative body didn’t make similar recommendations when two Obama Cabinet officials — Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro — violated the same law, and then-President Barack Obama never fired nor disciplined the top officials for the one-time judgments.

The inconsistently enforced 1939 law precludes most executive branch federal employees aside from the president and vice president from engaging in electioneering and political activity.

When asked about her Hatch Act violations last month, Conway quipped, “Let me know when the jail sentence starts.” Kerner’s report criticized Conway’s “defiant attitude” while labeling her “a repeat offender” and calling upon Trump to “remove Ms. Conway from her federal position immediately.”

When faced with Sebelius and Castro violating the Hatch Act, Obama fired neither official, and his administration defended them.

The OSC said Sebelius violated the Hatch Act “when she made extemporaneous partisan remarks in a speech delivered in her official capacity” in 2012. Sebelius was the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Campaign gala in North Carolina, during which she told the crowd to vote against a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Sebelius also told the crowd that “it’s hugely important to make sure that we reelect the president and elect a Democratic governor.”

“These statements were made in Secretary Sebelius’ official capacity and therefore violated the Hatch Act’s prohibition against using official authority or influence to affect the results of an election,” the OSC said.

But the OSC did not recommend that Obama fire Sebelius or recommend any punishment, simply submitting the report along with a response from Sebelius to the president.

Sebelius pushed back against the ruling, telling the agency that “I believe that you should have concluded that any violation was corrected when the event was reclassified as political.” Sebelius said she was happy that “the OSC has not recommended to the President that any particular action be taken” and told the OSC that “I don’t believe that any action would be appropriate.”

Eric Schultz, an Obama White House spokesman, defended Sebelius as well as the Obama administration’s lack of disciplinary action at the time, saying, “This error was immediately acknowledged by the secretary, promptly corrected, and no taxpayer dollars were misused.”

The OSC also said Castro, now a 2020 presidential contender, violated the Hatch Act's “prohibition against using one’s official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of an election” when he “advocated for and against presidential candidates while appearing in his official capacity” during the 2016 election.

Castro praised Hillary Clinton in a 2016 video interview, saying that “the American people understand that she has a positive vision for the country that includes opportunity for everybody and she can actually get it done” and that “it is very clear that Hillary Clinton is the most experienced, thoughtful, and prepared candidate for president that we have this year.”

Castro, at the time a potential Clinton running mate, told Katie Couric, “I don’t believe that is going to happen, but I am supportive of Secretary Clinton and I believe she is going to make a great president.”

The OSC concluded he “impermissibly mixed his personal political views with official government agency business” but did not recommend he be fired or that any disciplinary action be taken, instead just referring their report and Castro’s response to the president.

Castro acknowledged that, even if it wasn’t his intent to violate the law, he’d made an error.

Joshua Earnest, the Obama White House press secretary, at the time defended Castro along with the Obama administration’s decision not to punish him. “To his credit, Secretary Castro acknowledged the mistake that he made. He owned up to it, and he’s taken the necessary steps to prevent it from happening again.”

Castro said last week he thinks Conway should be fired.

“The difference between me and Kellyanne Conway is … instead of saying, ‘Look, I’m going to take these efforts to make sure that doesn't happen again,' she said, ‘to hell with that, I’m going to do it,’” he said at a Fox News town hall.

“She did the wrong thing,” said Castro. “And I support the Office of Special Counsel's determination that because she repeatedly violated it, even though she was clearly told that it was a violation, that she should be removed from office.”

Pat Cipollone, counsel to the president, said on Thursday that “the report is based on numerous grave legal, factual, and procedural errors.”

Trump defended Conway on Friday, saying “it looks like they’re trying to take away her free speech” and “I’m not going to fire her.”