The Senate has voted unanimously in favor of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2011 to strengthen and clarify protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act.
The House and Senate passed a similar bill in 2010 that was not acted on before Congress adjourned. The bill, S-743, would:
Clarify that any disclosure of gross waste or mismanagement, fraud, abuse, or illegal activity may be protected, but not disagreements over legitimate policy decisions;
Suspend the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals sole jurisdiction over federal employee whistleblower cases for five years;
Extend WPA coverage and other non-discrimination and anti-retaliatory laws to all TSA employees;
Clarify that whistleblowers may disclose evidence of censorship of scientific or technical information under the same standards that apply to disclosures of other kinds of waste, fraud, and abuse;
Codify the anti-gag provision that has been part of every Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill since 1988;
Allow jury trials under certain circumstances for a period of five years;
Provide the Merit Systems Protection Board with authority to consider and grant summary judgment motions in WPA cases for a period of 5 years;
Clarify that employees protected by the WPA may make protected classified disclosures to Congress using the same process as Intelligence Community employees;
Establish protections for the Intelligence Community modeled on existing whistleblower protections for FBI employees;
Establish a process within the executive branch for review if a security clearance is allegedly denied or revoked because of a protected whistleblower disclosure; and,
Provide the Office of Special Counsel with the independent right to file "friend of the court" briefs, or amicus briefs, with federal courts.
