I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4639 

To reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel, to amend title 5, United States 

Code, to provide modifications to authorities relating to the Office of 

Special Counsel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2016 

Mr. BLUM (for himself and Mr. MEADOWS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel, to amend title 

5, United States Code, to provide modifications to authorities relating to the Office of Special Counsel, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Thoroughly Inves5 tigating Retaliation Against Whistleblowers Act’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4639 IH

1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL 

2 COUNSEL. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(a)(2) of the Whistle4 blower Protection Act of 1989 (5 U.S.C. 5509 note) is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

8 subsection (a) shall be deemed to apply beginning on Octo9 ber 1, 2015. 

10 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO AGENCY INFORMATION. 

11 Section 1212(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(5)(A) In carrying out this subchapter, the Special 

14 Counsel is authorized to— 

15 ‘‘(i) have access to any record or other informa16 tion (including a report, audit, review, document, 

17 recommendation, or other material) of any agency 

18 under the jurisdiction of the Office of Special Coun19 sel; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) require any employee of such an agency to 

21 provide to the Office any record or other information 

22 during an investigation, review, or inquiry of any 

23 agency under the jurisdiction of the Office. 

24 ‘‘(B) With respect to any record or other information 

25 made available by an agency under this subchapter, the 

26 Office shall apply a level of confidentiality to such record 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4639 IH

1 or information at the level of confidentiality applied to the 

2 record by the agency.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. WHISTLEBLOWER PROVISIONS. 

4 Section 1213 of title 5, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘15 days’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘45 days’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (d)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

12 (i) in the matter before subparagraph 

13 (A), by striking ‘‘such as’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘including’’; and 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

16 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

17 and’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(6) if any disclosure referred to an agency 

20 head under subsection (c) is substantiated in whole 

21 or in part by the agency head, a detailed explanation 

22 of the failure to take any action described under 

23 paragraph (5).’’; and 

24 (3) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4639 IH

1 ‘‘(5) If an agency head submits a report to the Spe2 cial Counsel under subsection (d) that includes a descrip3 tion of any agency action proposed to be taken as a result 

4 of the investigation, the agency head shall, not later than 

5 180 days after the date of such submission, submit a sup6 plemental report to the Special Counsel stating whether 

7 any proposed action has been taken, and if the action has 

8 not been taken, the reason why it has not been taken.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN OSC INVESTIGATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1214(a) of title 5, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(6)(A) Within 30 days of receiving an allegation 

14 from a person under paragraph (1), the Special Counsel 

15 may terminate an investigation under such paragraph 

16 with respect to the allegation, without further inquiry or 

17 an opportunity for the person to respond, if the Special 

18 Counsel determines that— 

19 ‘‘(i) the same allegation, based on the same set 

20 of facts and circumstances— 

21 ‘‘(I) had previously been made by the 

22 person and previously investigated by the 

23 Special Counsel; or 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4639 IH

1 ‘‘(II) had previously been filed by the 

2 person with the Merit Systems Protection 

3 Board; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Office of Special Counsel does not have 

5 jurisdiction to investigate the allegation; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) the person knew or should have known of 

7 the alleged prohibited personnel practice earlier than 

8 the date that is 3 years before the date Special 

9 Counsel received the allegation. 

10 ‘‘(B) If the Special Counsel terminates an investiga11 tion under subparagraph (A), not later than 30 days after 

12 the date of such termination the Special Counsel shall pro13 vide a written notification stating the basis for the termi14 nation to the person who made the allegation. Paragraph 

15 (1)(D) shall not apply to any termination under such sub16 paragraph.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1214 of 

18 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘The 

20 Special Counsel’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided 

21 in paragraph (6), the Special Counsel’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (a)(1)(C), in the matter before 

23 clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or paragraph (6)’’ after 

24 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4639 IH

1 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) OSC ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 

3 1218 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘§ 1218. Annual report 

6 ‘‘(a) The Special Counsel shall submit an annual re7 port to Congress on the activities of the Special Counsel. 

8 Any such report shall include— 

9 ‘‘(1) the number, types, and disposition of alle10 gations of prohibited personnel practices filed with 

11 the Special Counsel, and the cost of allegations so 

12 disposed of; 

13 ‘‘(2) the number of investigations conducted by 

14 the Special Counsel; 

15 ‘‘(3) the number of stays or disciplinary actions 

16 negotiated by the Special Counsel with agencies; 

17 ‘‘(4) the number of cases in which the Special 

18 Counsel did not make a determination whether there 

19 are reasonable grounds to believe that a prohibited 

20 personnel practice has occurred, exists, or is to be 

21 taken within the 240-day period specified in section 

22 1214(b)(2)(A)(i); 

23 ‘‘(5) a description of the recommendations and 

24 reports made by the Special Counsel to other agen25 cies pursuant to this subchapter, and the actions 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4639 IH

1 taken by the agencies as a result of the reports or 

2 recommendations; 

3 ‘‘(6) the number of— 

4 ‘‘(A) actions initiated before the Merit Sys5 tems Protection Board, including the number of 

6 corrective action petitions and disciplinary ac7 tion complaints so initiated; and 

8 ‘‘(B) stays and stay extensions obtained 

9 from the Board; and 

10 ‘‘(7) the number of prohibited personnel prac11 tice complaints that result in— 

12 ‘‘(A) a favorable action for the complain13 ant, categorized by actions with respect to whis14 tleblower reprisal cases and all other cases; and 

15 ‘‘(B) a favorable outcome for the complain16 ant, categorized by outcomes with respect to 

17 whistleblower reprisal cases and all other cases. 

18 ‘‘(b) The report required by subsection (a) shall in19 clude whatever recommendations for legislation or other 

20 action by Congress the Special Counsel may consider ap21 propriate.’’. 

22 (b) OSC PUBLIC INFORMATION.—Section 1219(a)(1) 

23 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as fol24 lows: 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4639 IH

1 ‘‘(1) a list of any noncriminal matter referred 

2 to an agency head under section 1213(c), together 

3 with— 

4 ‘‘(A) the applicable transmittal of the mat5 ter to the agency head under section 

6 1213(c)(1); 

7 ‘‘(B) any report from agency head under 

8 section 1213(c)(1)(B) relating to such matter; 

9 ‘‘(C) if appropriate, not otherwise prohib10 ited by law, and with the consent of the com11 plainant, any comments from the complainant 

12 under section 1213(e)(1) relating to the matter; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(D) the Special Counsel’s comments or 

15 recommendations under section 1213(e)(3) or 

16 (4) relating to the matter;’’. 

17 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF SURVEY PILOT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Special Counsel 

19 shall design and establish a survey pilot program under 

20 which the Office shall conduct, with respect to fiscal years 

21 2017 and 2018, a survey of individuals who have filed a 

22 complaint or disclosure with the Office. The survey shall 

23 be designed to gather responses from the individuals for 

24 the purpose of collecting information and improving cus25 tomer service at various stages of the review or investigaVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Feb 27, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4639.IH H4639

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4639 IH

1 tive process. The results of the survey shall be published 

2 in the annual report of the Office. 

3 (b) SUSPENSION OF OTHER SURVEYS.—During fiscal 

4 years 2017 and 2018, section 13 of Public Law 103–424 

5 shall have no force or effect. 

6 SEC. 8. PENALTIES UNDER THE HATCH ACT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7326 of title 5, United 

8 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘§ 7326. Penalties 

10 ‘‘An employee or individual who violates section 7323 

11 or 7324 shall be subject to— 

12 ‘‘(1) disciplinary action consisting of removal, 

13 reduction in grade, debarment from Federal employ14 ment for a period not to exceed 5 years, suspension, 

15 or reprimand; 

16 ‘‘(2) an assessment of a civil penalty not to ex17 ceed $1,000; or 

18 ‘‘(3) any combination of the penalties described 

19 in paragraph (1) or (2).’’. 

20 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub21 section (a) shall apply to any violation of section 7323 or 

22 7324 of title 5, United States Code, occurring after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS