IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4639 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2016 

Received 

JULY 13, 2016 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Thoroughly Inves3 tigating Retaliation Against Whistleblowers Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL 

5 COUNSEL. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(a)(2) of the Whistle7 blower Protection Act of 1989 (5 U.S.C. 5509 note) is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(2) $24,119,000 for fiscal year 2016 and 

10 $25,735,000 for each of fiscal years 2017, 2018, 

11 2019, and 2020 to carry out subchapter II of chap12 ter 12 of title 5, United States Code (as amended 

13 by this Act).’’. 

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

15 subsection (a) shall be deemed to apply beginning on Octo16 ber 1, 2015. 

17 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO AGENCY INFORMATION. 

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

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

21 Counsel is authorized to— 

22 ‘‘(i) have access to any record or other informa23 tion (including a report, audit, review, document, 

24 recommendation, or other material) of any agency 

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1 sel, consistent with the requirements of subpara2 graph (C); and 

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

4 provide to the Office any record or other information 

5 during an investigation, review, or inquiry of any 

6 agency under the jurisdiction of the Office. 

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

8 made available by an agency under this subchapter, the 

9 Office shall apply a level of confidentiality to such record 

10 or information at the level of confidentiality applied to the 

11 record by the agency. 

12 ‘‘(C) With respect to any record or other information 

13 described under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General 

14 or an Inspector General may withhold access to any such 

15 record or other information if the disclosure could reason16 ably be expected to interfere with an ongoing criminal in17 vestigation or prosecution, but only if the Attorney Gen18 eral or applicable agency head submits a written report 

19 to the Office of Special Counsel describing the record or 

20 other information withheld and the reason for the with21 holding.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. WHISTLEBLOWER PROVISIONS. 

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

24 amended— 


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

2 inserting ‘‘45 days’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (d)— 

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

5 the end; 

6 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

7 (i) in the matter before subparagraph 

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

9 ‘‘including’’; and 

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

11 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

12 and’’; and 

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

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

15 head under subsection (c) is substantiated in whole 

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

17 of the failure to take any action described under 

18 paragraph (5).’’; and 

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

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(5) If an agency head submits a report to the Spe22 cial Counsel under subsection (d) that includes a descrip23 tion of any agency action proposed to be taken as a result 

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

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1 plemental report to the Special Counsel stating whether 

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

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

4 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN OSC INVESTIGATIONS. 

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

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

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

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

10 may terminate an investigation under such paragraph 

11 with respect to the allegation, without further inquiry or 

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

13 Counsel determines that— 

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

15 of facts and circumstances— 

16 ‘‘(I) had previously been made by the per17 son and previously investigated by the Special 

18 Counsel; or 

19 ‘‘(II) had previously been filed by the per20 son with the Merit Systems Protection Board; 

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

22 jurisdiction to investigate the allegation; or 

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

24 the alleged prohibited personnel practice earlier than 


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1 the date that is 3 years before the date Special 

2 Counsel received the allegation. 

3 ‘‘(B) If the Special Counsel terminates an investiga4 tion under subparagraph (A), not later than 30 days after 

5 the date of such termination the Special Counsel shall pro6 vide a written notification stating the basis for the termi7 nation to the person who made the allegation. Paragraph 

8 (1)(D) shall not apply to any termination under such sub9 paragraph.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1214 of 

11 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

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

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

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

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

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

17 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’. 

18 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

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

20 1218 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read 

21 as follows: 

22 ‘‘§ 1218. Annual report 

23 ‘‘(a) The Special Counsel shall submit an annual re24 port to Congress on the activities of the Special Counsel. 

25 Any such report shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the number, types, and disposition of alle2 gations of prohibited personnel practices filed with 

3 the Special Counsel, and the cost of allegations so 

4 disposed of; 

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

6 the Special Counsel; 

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

8 negotiated by the Special Counsel with agencies; 

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

10 Counsel did not make a determination whether there 

11 are reasonable grounds to believe that a prohibited 

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

13 taken within the 240-day period specified in section 

14 1214(b)(2)(A)(i); 

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

16 reports made by the Special Counsel to other agen17 cies pursuant to this subchapter, and the actions 

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

19 recommendations; 

20 ‘‘(6) the number of— 

21 ‘‘(A) actions initiated before the Merit Sys22 tems Protection Board, including the number of 

23 corrective action petitions and disciplinary ac24 tion complaints so initiated; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) stays and stay extensions obtained 

2 from the Board; and 

3 ‘‘(7) the number of prohibited personnel prac4 tice complaints that result in— 

5 ‘‘(A) a favorable action for the complain6 ant, categorized by actions with respect to whis7 tleblower reprisal cases and all other cases; and 

8 ‘‘(B) a favorable outcome for the complain9 ant, categorized by outcomes with respect to 

10 whistleblower reprisal cases and all other cases. 

11 ‘‘(b) The report required by subsection (a) shall in12 clude whatever recommendations for legislation or other 

13 action by Congress the Special Counsel may consider ap14 propriate.’’. 

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

16 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as fol17 lows: 

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

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

20 with— 

21 ‘‘(A) the applicable transmittal of the mat22 ter to the agency head under section 

23 1213(c)(1); 

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

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


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1 ‘‘(C) if appropriate, not otherwise prohib2 ited by law, and with the consent of the com3 plainant, any comments from the complainant 

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

5 and 

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

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

8 (4) relating to the matter;’’. 

9 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF SURVEY PILOT PROGRAM. 

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

11 shall design and establish a survey pilot program under 

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

13 2017 and 2018, a survey of individuals who have filed a 

14 complaint or disclosure with the Office. The survey shall 

15 be designed to gather responses from the individuals for 

16 the purpose of collecting information and improving cus17 tomer service at various stages of the review or investiga18 tive process. The results of the survey shall be published 

19 in the annual report of the Office. 

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

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

22 shall have no force or effect. 

23 SEC. 8. PENALTIES UNDER THE HATCH ACT. 

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

25 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 7326. Penalties 

2 ‘‘An employee or individual who violates section 7323 

3 or 7324 shall be subject to— 

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

5 reduction in grade, debarment from Federal employ6 ment for a period not to exceed 5 years, suspension, 

7 or reprimand; 

8 ‘‘(2) an assessment of a civil penalty not to ex9 ceed $1,000; or 

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

11 in paragraph (1) or (2).’’. 

12 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub13 section (a) shall apply to any violation of section 7323 or 

14 7324 of title 5, United States Code, occurring after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 9. REGULATIONS. 

17 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Special Counsel shall prescribe such regu19 lations as may be necessary to perform the functions of 

20 the Special Counsel under subchapter II of chapter 12 of 

21 title 5, United States Code, including regulations nec22 essary to carry out sections 1213, 1214, and 1215 of such 

23 title, and any functions required due to the amendments 


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1 made by this Act. Such regulations shall be published in 

2 the Federal Register. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 21, 2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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