On July 30, whistleblowers, whistleblower advocates, and government officials will gather on Capitol Hill for the National Whistleblower Center’s annual National Whistleblower Day celebration. This year’s National Whistleblower Day marks the 248th anniversary of America’s first whistleblower law.
To commemorate this occasion, and to recognize the ongoing fight to encourage and protect the whistleblowers that hold our government and corporations accountable, U.S. Senators from across the aisle will share remarks. Attendees will hear from:
- Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate;
- Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR);
- Senator James Lankford (R-OK);
- Devin Gould, Senior Policy Adviser and Deputy Legislative Director for Senator John Fetterman (D-PA).
As a co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Caucus, Senators Grassley and Wyden have been key in pushing for whistleblower protection laws. Earlier this year, Senator Grassley introduced two bills to extend whistleblower protections across corporations and government agencies, and the two senators recently partnered to strengthen the IRS’s whistleblower program through the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act.
“Federal law should ensure every whistleblower gets the protections they deserve, including employees who investigate misconduct and executive agency employees of a government corporation,” Grassley said, “Whistleblowers shouldn’t be treated like a skunk at a picnic just for telling the truth.”
Senator Lankford, a longtime advocate for government accountability, has long defended government employees’ rights to report misconduct and wrongdoing without obstructions. Devin Gould of Senator Fetterman’s office has been crucial in the push for more robust whistleblower protections. In the time that Gould has been with Senator Fetterman, the Senator has co-sponsored the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act and has pushed for the full implementation of whistleblower programs under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“Bipartisan congressional support for whistleblower rights is crucial, especially because the general public overwhelmingly supports increased whistleblower protections,” said David Colapinto, Founder and General Counsel of NWC. “Following SCOTUS’s decision in the Slaughter case, every whistleblower program that is administered by an ‘independent agency’ is threatened, and legislative action to insulate whistleblower protection from outside influence and establish court access and jury trial rights for federal whistleblowers is urgently needed.”
As Colapinto emphasized, “The administrative agencies tasked with protecting whistleblowers have come under assault, and there needs to be a bipartisan consensus to ensure that this four-alarm fire is put out.”
The National Whistleblower Day 2026 celebration will be held on July 30 in the Kennedy Caucus Room on Capitol Hill. While the event is full, the National Whistleblower Center is still accepting signups via the waitlist. Additional speakers are to be announced.
