On July 10, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), alongside 10 other senators, introduced the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act, which increases protections for federal employee whistleblowers who provide information to Congress. The Act is endorsed by major U.S. whistleblower organizations, who believe that the reforms contained in the bill are long overdue.
Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center, Stephen M. Kohn, says this bill “is essential in order for Congress to carry out proper oversight. Protecting government employees’ ability to disclose important information without interference or fear of retaliation should be a no-brainer for any member of Congress.”
The Congressional Whistleblowers Protection Act would provide federal whistleblowers the right to access courts, giving teeth to the anti-retaliation provisions of the Whistleblower Protection Act, which governs protections for federal whistleblowers.
Senator Blumenthal stated, “this measure will strengthen safeguards for anyone reporting government misconduct and empower them to seek relief if they face retaliation. Congressional whistleblowers are essential to our democracy, and they deserve vigorous protection.”
Federal whistleblowers have been denied court access since 1983 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Bush v. Lucas that the administrative system created by the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) fully replaced federal employees’ pre-existing right to court access.
At that time, Ernie Fitzgerald, one of the grandfathers of federal employee whistleblowing, who had won his case because he could raise claims before a U.S. district court, warned that the only way to provide whistleblowers with real protection was court access.
If passed, the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act could finally restore this key right to government whistleblowers.
“The whistleblower community has been fighting for this for decades now,” said National Whistleblower Center Executive Director Siri Turner. “Supporting federal whistleblowers is a bipartisan issue – all parties rely on them. It’s not just whistleblowers who are depending on this bill being passed, it’s the American public.”
Further Reading:
Blumenthal Introduces Legislation to Protect Federal Whistleblowers from Retaliation