An agency that scrutinizes the conduct of federal employees has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who investigated Donald J. Trump before he returned to office, following a request by a Republican senator.
The Office of Special Counsel confirmed on Saturday that it had opened an investigation into Mr. Smith for a possible violation of the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits federal workers from using their government jobs to engage in political activity.
Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, had asked the agency to investigate on the premise that some of Mr. Smith’s actions, such as seeking quick trial dates in the two criminal cases against Mr. Trump, were designed to influence the 2024 election.
The investigation, which was first reported by The New York Post, is unusual in several respects. First, the most severe penalty possible for a Hatch Act violation is dismissal from federal employment, and Mr. Smith left the government at the start of the year. Second, the type of prosecutorial decisions criticized by Mr. Cotton, Mr. Trump and others are far different from the type of cases the O.S.C. typically handles. The office traditionally investigates and addresses violations of federal rules about the civil service.
The investigation comes at a time when lawyers representing fired or demoted federal employees have complained that under Mr. Trump, the O.S.C. is not fulfilling its traditional role.
In February, the president dismissed the agency’s head, Hampton Dellinger, despite a federal law saying that person can only be fired for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
At the time, Mr. Dellinger had been arguing for the reinstatement of thousands of probationary workers who had been fired by the new administration.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
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