New Whistleblower Bills Would Protect Federal Workers
National Whistleblower Appreciation Day, an annual day of recognition for whistleblowers whose actions protected the American people from fraud and abuse, took place this past July 30th. Surrounding the day, several pieces of legislation have been introduced to protect government whistleblowers, many of whom are afraid to come forward out of fear of retaliation by their agencies.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), the Chairman of the committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, and committee member and Co-Chair of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) recently introduced the Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act to reinforce whistleblower protections for federal employees.
Chairwoman Maloney said in a release announcing the bill, “Whistleblowers risk their careers to expose wrongdoing and now, more than ever, it is important for Congress to strengthen the law to protect these heroes from retaliation.”
Under the Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act, no federal official can prevent a federal employee from sharing information with Congress. The legislation would also limit disclosure of a whistleblower’s identity. Furthermore, it would prohibit retaliatory investigations, expand whistleblower protections to all non-career appointees in the Senior Executive Service, and provide access to jury trials for whistleblowers.
Rep. Maloney, Rep. Connolly, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) also introduced the Federal Employee Access to Information Act to ensure that federal employees are able to use federal transparency laws without reprisal.
Senator Leahy said in a release announcing the legislation, “FOIA is a critical tool for exposing government wrongdoing, and federal employees should never be terminated or retaliated against for availing themselves of our nation’s premier transparency law.”
Under this act, federal employees would be protected from retaliation for filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests or Privacy Act requests. Average citizens have access to transparency laws to obtain information about the government, and federal employees should be able to do the same without fear of suspension or termination.
Government Accountability Project Legal Director Tom Devine stated, “the House is doing its share to restore a functional administrative remedy for whistleblowers. This is essential, since they do not have access to jury trials in court like corporate whistleblowers.”
“Since the earliest days of our country’s founding, we have relied on the courage of whistleblowers to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse… now, more than ever, these truth tellers must know the law is on their side when they come forward, particularly in light of the doxing, stalking, and abuse so many whistleblowers have suffered,” Rep. Speier commented.
