The Senate has approved an amendment based on the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act aimed at strengthening protections for federal employees that disclose government waste, fraud, abuse, or threats to public safety, but excluding intelligence agency personnel.
Sponsored by the chair of the homeland security and governmental affairs committee, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and a ranking member, Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the amendment to the fiscal 2007 defense spending bill would end the federal appeals court’s exclusive jurisdiction over whistleblower cases by permitting multi-circuit review for five years, and protect employees for “any” disclosure of waste, fraud, or abuse.
The House passed whistleblower legislation in April extending protections to intelligence community employees, and while the Senate bill does not, Akaka the Senate language could provide a foothold for doing so.
Legislation has been proposed in the House to set up an independent body to oversee intelligence whistle blowing because the Senate bill excludes employees in agencies such as the FBI, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the NSA.
The Senate bill would also protect whistleblowers whose security clearance was revoked in retaliation; provide the Office of Special Counsel with the independent right to file amicus briefs in federal courts; and, codify and strengthen the anti-gag provision that has been included in appropriations language since 1988.
“We must ensure that federal employees can continue to come forward and disclose instances of official or department misconduct without fear for their personal safety or the loss of their job,” said Collins.
“Absent these needed protections, cases of fraud and abuse will continue to go unnoticed as would-be informants remain quiet out of fear,” she added.
