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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any rights 
provided in section 2303 of this title, title VII of 
Public Law 105–272, or any other provision of law, 
an employee or former employee in a covered agency 
may not be discharged, demoted, or otherwise dis-
criminated against (including by denying, sus-
pending, or revoking a security clearance, or by oth-
erwise restricting access to classified or sensitive in-
formation) as a reprisal for making a disclosure de-
scribed in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) DISCLOSURES DESCRIBED.—A disclosure 
described in this paragraph is any disclosure of cov-
ered information which is made— 
‘‘(A) by an employee or former employee in 
a covered agency (without restriction as to time, 
place, form, motive, context, or prior disclosure 
made to any person by an employee or former 
employee, including a disclosure made in the 
course of an employee’s duties); and 
‘‘(B) to an authorized Member of Con-
gress, an authorized official of an Executive 
agency, or the Inspector General of the covered 
agency in which such employee or former em-
ployee is or was employed. 
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‘‘(b) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS.—An employee 
or former employee in a covered agency who believes that 
such employee or former employee has been subjected to 
a reprisal prohibited by subsection (a) may submit a com-
plaint to the Inspector General and the head of the cov-
ered agency. The Inspector General shall investigate the 
complaint and, unless the Inspector General determines 
that the complaint is frivolous, submit a report of the find-
ings of the investigation within 120 days to the employee 
or former employee (as the case may be) and to the head 
of the covered agency. 
‘‘(c) REMEDY.— 
‘‘(1) Within 180 days of the filing of the com-
plaint, the head of the covered agency shall, taking 
into consideration the report of the Inspector Gen-
eral under subsection (b) (if any), determine whether 
the employee or former employee has been subjected 
to a reprisal prohibited by subsection (a), and shall 
either issue an order denying relief or shall imple-
ment corrective action to return the employee or 
former employee, as nearly as possible, to the posi-
tion he would have held had the reprisal not oc-
curred, including voiding any directive or order de-
nying, suspending, or revoking a security clearance 
or otherwise restricting access to classified or sen-
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sitive information that constituted a reprisal, as well 
as providing back pay and related benefits, medical 
costs incurred, travel expenses, any other reasonable 
and foreseeable consequential damages, and compen-
satory damages (including attorney’s fees, interest, 
reasonable expert witness fees, and costs). If the 
head of the covered agency issues an order denying 
relief, he shall issue a report to the employee or 
former employee detailing the reasons for the denial. 
‘‘(2)(A) If the head of the covered agency, in 
the process of implementing corrective action under 
paragraph (1), voids a directive or order denying, 
suspending, or revoking a security clearance or oth-
erwise restricting access to classified or sensitive in-
formation that constituted a reprisal, the head of the 
covered agency may re-initiate procedures to issue a 
directive or order denying, suspending, or revoking 
a security clearance or otherwise restricting access 
to classified or sensitive information only if those re- 
initiated procedures are based exclusively on national 
security concerns and are unrelated to the actions 
constituting the original reprisal. 
‘‘(B) In any case in which the head of a covered 
agency re-initiates procedures under subparagraph 
(A), the head of the covered agency shall issue an 
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unclassified report to its Inspector General and to 
authorized Members of Congress (with a classified 
annex, if necessary), detailing the circumstances of 
the agency’s re-initiated procedures and describing 
the manner in which those procedures are based ex-
clusively on national security concerns and are unre-
lated to the actions constituting the original reprisal. 
The head of the covered agency shall also provide 
periodic updates to the Inspector General and au-
thorized Members of Congress detailing any signifi-
cant actions taken as a result of those procedures, 
and shall respond promptly to inquiries from author-
ized Members of Congress regarding the status of 
those procedures. 
‘‘(3) If the head of the covered agency has not 
made a determination under paragraph (1) within 
180 days of the filing of the complaint (or he has 
issued an order denying relief, in whole or in part, 
whether within that 180-day period or thereafter, 
then, within 90 days after such order is issued), the 
employee or former employee may bring an action at 
law or equity for de novo review to seek any correc-
tive action described in paragraph (1) in the appro-
priate United States district court (as defined by 
section 1221(k)(2)), which shall have jurisdiction 
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over such action without regard to the amount in 
controversy. An appeal from a final decision of a dis-
trict court in an action under this paragraph may, 
at the election of the appellant, be taken to the 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (which 
shall have jurisdiction of such appeal), in lieu of the 
United States court of appeals for the circuit em-
bracing the district in which the action was brought. 
‘‘(4) An employee or former employee adversely 
affected or aggrieved by an order issued under para-
graph (1), or who seeks review of any corrective ac-
tion determined under paragraph (1), may obtain ju-
dicial review of such order or determination in the 
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Cir-
cuit or any United States court of appeals having ju-
risdiction over appeals from any United States dis-
trict court which, under section 1221(k)(2), would 
be an appropriate United States district court. No 
petition seeking such review may be filed more than 
60 days after issuance of the order or the deter-
mination to implement corrective action by the head 
of the agency. Review shall conform to chapter 7. 
‘‘(5)(A) If, in any action for damages or relief 
under paragraph (3) or (4), an Executive agency 
moves to withhold information from discovery based 
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on a claim that disclosure would be inimical to na-
tional security by asserting the privilege commonly 
referred to as the ‘state secrets privilege’, and if the 
assertion of such privilege prevents the employee or 
former employee from establishing an element in 
support of the employee’s or former employee’s 
claim, the court shall resolve the disputed issue of 
fact or law in favor of the employee or former em-
ployee, provided that an Inspector General investiga-
tion under subsection (b) has resulted in substantial 
confirmation of that element, or those elements, of 
the employee’s or former employee’s claim. 
‘‘(B) In any case in which an Executive agency 
asserts the privilege commonly referred to as the 
‘state secrets privilege’, whether or not an Inspector 
General has conducted an investigation under sub-
section (b), the head of that agency shall, at the 
same time it asserts the privilege, issue a report to 
authorized Members of Congress, accompanied by a 
classified annex if necessary, describing the reasons 
for the assertion, explaining why the court hearing 
the matter does not have the ability to maintain the 
protection of classified information related to the as-
sertion, detailing the steps the agency has taken to 
arrive at a mutually agreeable settlement with the 
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rule, or regulation (including the Lloyd-La Follette 
Act). 
No court or administrative agency may require the ex-
haustion of any right or remedy under this section as a 
condition for pursuing any other right or remedy otherwise 
available to an employee or former employee under any 
other provision of law, rule, or regulation (as referred to 
in paragraph (2)). 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered information’, as used 
with respect to an employee or former employee, 
means any information (including classified or sen-
sitive information) which the employee or former 
employee reasonably believes evidences— 
‘‘(A) any violation of any law, rule, or reg-
ulation; or 
‘‘(B) gross mismanagement, a gross waste 
of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial 
and specific danger to public health or safety; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered agency’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
the Office of the Director of National Intel-
ligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the 
Defense Intelligence Agency, the National 
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Se-
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curity Agency, and the National Reconnaissance 
Office; and 
‘‘(B) any other Executive agency, or ele-
ment or unit thereof, determined by the Presi-
dent under section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii)(II) to have 
as its principal function the conduct of foreign 
intelligence or counterintelligence activities; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘authorized Member of Congress’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) with respect to covered information 
about sources and methods of the Central Intel-
ligence Agency, the Director of National Intel-
ligence, and the National Intelligence Program 
(as defined in section 3(6) of the National Se-
curity Act of 1947), a member of the House 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, or 
any other committees of the House of Rep-
resentatives or Senate to which this type of in-
formation is customarily provided; 
‘‘(B) with respect to special access pro-
grams specified in section 119 of title 10, an 
appropriate member of the Congressional de-
fense committees (as defined in such section); 
and 
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‘‘(C) with respect to other covered informa-
tion, a member of the House Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Select 
Committee on Intelligence, the House Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs, or any other com-
mittees of the House of Representatives or the 
Senate that have oversight over the program 
which the covered information concerns; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘authorized official of an Execu-
tive agency’ shall have such meaning as the Office 
of Personnel Management shall by regulation pre-
scribe, except that such term shall, with respect to 
any employee or former employee in an agency, in-
clude the head, the general counsel, and the ombuds-
man of such agency.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 23 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 2303 the 
following: 
‘‘2303a. National security whistleblower rights.’’. 
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SEC. 11. ENHANCEMENT OF CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE 
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS. 
(a) CIVILIAN AGENCY CONTRACTS.—Section 315(c) 
of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act 
of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 265(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘If the head’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘actions:’’ and inserting 
the following: ‘‘Not later than 180 days after sub-
mission of a complaint under subsection (b), the 
head of the executive agency concerned shall deter-
mine whether the contractor concerned has subjected 
the complainant to a reprisal prohibited by sub-
section (a) and shall either issue an order denying 
relief or shall take one or more of the following ac-
tions:’’; and 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4) and adding after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing new paragraph (3): 
‘‘(3) If the head of an executive agency has not issued 
an order within 180 days after the submission of a com-
plaint under subsection (b) and there is no showing that 
such delay is due to the bad faith of the complainant, the 
complainant shall be deemed to have exhausted his admin-
istrative remedies with respect to the complaint, and the 
complainant may bring an action at law or equity for de 
novo review to seek compensatory damages and other re-
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lief available under this section in the appropriate district 
court of the United States, which shall have jurisdiction 
over such an action without regard to the amount in con-
troversy, and which action shall, at the request of either 
party to such action, be tried by the court with a jury.’’. 
(b) ARMED SERVICES CONTRACTS.—Section 2409(c) 
of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘If the head’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘actions:’’ and inserting 
the following: ‘‘Not later than 180 days after sub-
mission of a complaint under subsection (b), the 
head of the agency concerned shall determine wheth-
er the contractor concerned has subjected the com-
plainant to a reprisal prohibited by subsection (a) 
and shall either issue an order denying relief or shall 
take one or more of the following actions:’’; and 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4) and adding after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing new paragraph (3): 
‘‘(3) If the head of an agency has not issued an order 
within 180 days after the submission of a complaint under 
subsection (b) and there is no showing that such delay 
is due to the bad faith of the complainant, the complainant 
shall be deemed to have exhausted his administrative rem-
edies with respect to the complaint, and the complainant 
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