Today, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Reform Act of 2025 in order to further strengthen the highly successful SEC Whistleblower Program. The bill bolsters the Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation protections and ensures that the agency processes award claims in a more timely manner.
“Patriotic whistleblowers root out waste, fraud and abuse taking place in the shadows, and we should thank them for recovering billions of valuable taxpayer dollars. I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation to increase government accountability by safeguarding the SEC’s Whistleblower Program,” Senator Grassley said.
“The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act is urgently needed legislation to protect innocent investors from frauds. Since its inception under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program has recouped over $6.3 billion in sanctions, placing billions back in the hands of honest investors and taxpayers … The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act redresses the erosion of anti-retaliation protections following Digital Realty. It is a bipartisan, common-sense legislation. It rebuilds the protective framework for whistleblowers that made the SEC Whistleblower Program a success,” said Stephen M. Kohn, Chairman of the Board of National Whistleblower Center.
Offering anonymous reporting channels, anti-retaliation protections, and monetary awards, the SEC Whistleblower Program has been an immense success since its establishment in 2010. Overall the program has resulted in the collection of over $6.3 billion from fraudsters and the return over $1.5 billion to harmed investors.
The bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Act aims to further strengthen the program by protecting internal whistleblowers who report to corporate compliance, addressing the long delays that have bogged down the program, and making sure that nondisclosure agreements do not silence whistleblowers.
Currently, as ruled by the Supreme Court in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers, the SEC Whistleblower Program’s anti-retaliation protections only apply when a whistleblower contacts the SEC or other select officials. The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act extends the protections to internal whistleblowers, who according to studies are far more likely to face retaliation.
In order to ensure the prompt payment of whistleblower awards the bill requires that the SEC issues a determination in most cases no later than “the date that is 1 year after the deadline established by the Commission, by rule, for the whistleblower to file the award claim” or “the date that is 1 year after the final resolution of all litigation, including any appeals, concerning the covered action or related action.”
Lastly, the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act ensures that would-be-whistleblowers are not silenced by restrictive non-disclosure agreements by codifying the Commission’s Rule 21F-17(a). In recent years, the SEC has aggressively enforced the rule, which prohibits companies from impeding the ability of individuals to contact the SEC about potential securities law violations.
“Protecting whistleblowers from retaliation, incentivizing qualified whistleblowers with timely awards, and prohibiting companies from muzzling would-be-whistleblowers are the three core features of the SEC Whistleblower Program. The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act is a critically important piece of legislation because it bolsters all three,” said whistleblower attorney Andrew Feller, Senior Special Counsel at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.
Senators Grassley and Warren introduced a version of the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act during the last session of Congress and it was widely supported by whistleblower advocates.
Former SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, who now serves as Of Counsel at the whistleblower defense firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, wrote an article calling for the passage of the bill.
“The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act reflects a bipartisan consensus that a strong whistleblower program benefits investors, companies and the public,” Lee writes. “The program has helped uncover — and remediate –serious and costly frauds that might never have otherwise come to light. Having worked in law enforcement for over a decade, and then as an SEC Commissioner helping to oversee the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, I know firsthand the value of continued investment in this highly successful program. I hope Congress will act quickly to pass this important legislation.”
National Whistleblower Center has issued an Action Alert allowing individuals to write to Congress calling for the passage of the bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Act.
Join NWC in Taking Action:
Strengthen the SEC Whistleblower Program
Further Reading:
The Bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Bill: Building on Success
