115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1869 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize and rename the position of Whistleblower 

Ombudsman to be the Whistleblower Protection Coordinator. 

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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†S 1869 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Protec3 tion Coordination Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(d) of the Inspector Gen6 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

8 (A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 

9 subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and adjust10 ing the margins accordingly; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘Ombudsman who shall 

12 educate agency employees—’’ and inserting the 

13 following: ‘‘Coordinator who shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) educate agency employees—’’; 

15 (C) in subclause (I), as so redesignated, by 

16 striking ‘‘on retaliation’’ and inserting ‘‘against 

17 retaliation’’; 

18 (D) in subclause (II), as so redesignated, 

19 by striking the period at the end and inserting 

20 the following: ‘‘, including— 

21 ‘‘(aa) the means by which em22 ployees may seek review of any allega23 tion of reprisal, including the roles of 

24 the Office of the Inspector General, 

25 the Office of Special Counsel, the 
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1 Merit Systems Protection Board, and 

2 any other relevant entities; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) general information about 

4 the timeliness of such cases, the avail5 ability of any alternative dispute 

6 mechanisms, and avenues for poten7 tial relief.’’; and 

8 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(ii) assist the Inspector General in pro10 moting the timely and appropriate handling and 

11 consideration of protected disclosures and alle12 gations of reprisal, to the extent practicable, by 

13 the Inspector General; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) assist the Inspector General in facili15 tating communication and coordination with the 

16 Special Counsel, the Council of the Inspectors 

17 General on Integrity and Efficiency, the estab18 lishment, Congress, and any other relevant enti19 ty regarding the timely and appropriate han20 dling and consideration of protected disclosures, 

21 allegations of reprisal, and general matters re22 garding the implementation and administration 

23 of whistleblower protection laws, rules, and reg24 ulations.’’; 
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Ombuds2 man’’ and inserting ‘‘Coordinator’’; 

3 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para4 graph (4); and 

5 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(3) The Whistleblower Protection Coordinator 

8 shall have direct access to the Inspector General as 

9 needed to accomplish the requirements of this sub10 section.’’. 

11 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CIGIE.—Section 11(c) of 

12 the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES RELATING

15 TO WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.—The Council 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) facilitate the work of the Whistle18 blower Protection Coordinators designated 

19 under section 3(d)(C); and 

20 ‘‘(B) in consultation with the Office of 

21 Special Counsel and Whistleblower Protection 

22 Coordinators from the member offices of the In23 spector General, develop best practices for co24 ordination and communication in promoting the 

25 timely and appropriate handling and consider-
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1 ation of protected disclosures, allegations of re2 prisal, and general matters regarding the imple3 mentation and administration of whistleblower 

4 protection laws, in accordance with Federal 

5 law.’’. 

6 (c) REPORTING.—Section 5 of the Inspector General 

7 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a), by amending paragraph 

9 (20) to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(20)(A) a detailed description of any instance 

11 of whistleblower retaliation, including information 

12 about the official found to have engaged in retalia13 tion; and 

14 ‘‘(B) what, if any, consequences the establish15 ment actually imposed to hold the official described 

16 in subparagraph (A) accountable;’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (3)(D), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

21 paragraph (5); and 

22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(4) whether the establishment entered into a 

25 settlement agreement with the official described in 
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1 subsection (a)(20)(A), which shall be reported re2 gardless of any confidentiality agreement relating to 

3 the settlement agreement; and’’. 

4 (d) REPEAL OF SUNSET.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 

6 117 of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement 

7 Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–199; 126 Stat. 1475) 

8 is repealed. 

9 (2) RETROACTIVE EFFECTIVE DATE.—The 

10 amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect 

11 on November 26, 2017. 

Passed the Senate March 15, 2018. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1869 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize and rename the position of Whistletection Coordinator. blower Ombudsman to be the Whistleblower Pro-