On April 22, the Make It Safe Coalition, a non-partisan coalition of whistleblower, anti-fraud, and good government advocacy groups, sent a letter to members of Congress calling for the passage of the Expanding Whistleblower Protection for Government Contractors Act.
The bill strengthens whistleblower protections for federal contractors and grantees by closing existing loopholes which leave them vulnerable to retaliation. Among other reforms, the bill would also protect government contractors from retaliation if they refuse to carry out an action which they believe is illegal and would clarify that these protections cannot be waived by nondisclosure agreement or other conditions of employment.
“In fiscal year 2023, contractors consumed $759 billion in federal spending,” the Make It Safe Coalition letter states. “Since 2020, Washington has authorized an unprecedented $4 trillion in new spending. Yet our government contractor whistleblower laws haven’t been updated in over a decade, leaving a massive accountability gap that threatens Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”
The letter was sent to Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Gary Peters (D-MI) the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Peters introduced the act in March and previously introduced another version of the bill during the last session of Congress.
“Whistleblowers play a critical role in exposing wrongdoing and holding the government accountable,” Senator Peters stated when introducing the previous version in 2023. “This bipartisan legislation strengthens protections for individuals who blow the whistle on waste or fraud in federal contracts and improves accountability for federal officials who retaliate against them. Together this will help assure potential whistleblowers that they can raise concerns without fear of retaliation and help make sure that government is working effectively for taxpayers.”
The previous version of the bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but did not proceed to a full Senate vote.
“Accountability requires insiders who can safely report waste, fraud, and abuse — and their safety requires a noncontroversial update to this law meant to shield them from harm,” the letter states. “There can be no credible disagreement that whistleblowers are the most effective resource that exists to catch fraud.”
“The bleeding of taxpayer dollars must stop,” the letter concludes. “We urge you to demonstrate that under your leadership, Washington will no longer tolerate contractor abuse of the public trust and the public purse. This bill is unsurpassed as a noncontroversial way to achieve that goal.”