The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act requires gag orders for federal employees to clarify that communications with Congress and IGs are protected. Image: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has pressed the VA for information on reported non-disclosure agreements being required of departmental officials overseeing the VA’s plan for downsizing its workforce, saying such gag orders “could chill employees from disclosing violations of waste, fraud, and abuse to Congress.”
“These reports raise numerous questions about potential efforts by this Administration to undercut whistleblower protections. The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act requires gag orders for federal employees to include a mandatory statement that employee communications with Congress and Inspectors General are protected,” said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., in a letter to the department.
Among the requirements of that law, he noted, is that any form of non-disclosure agreement must contain a notice that employees remain free to make whistleblowing disclosures to Congress, agency IGs, and the Office of Special Counsel. The OSC in turn “has emphasized that all federal nondisclosure agreements or policies must explicitly state that employees retain their constitutional and statutory whistleblower rights and that agencies cannot use NDAs or other means to restrict or chill such protected communications,” he wrote.
“Federal whistleblowers save lives, save taxpayer money, and bravely speak truth to power in cases of wrongdoing, mismanagement, or other abuses of power by the government,” he wrote, asking for information on all such requirements, internal communications regarding them, and any that have been signed by an employee.
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