order to be kept classified in the interest of na-
tional defense or the conduct of foreign affairs, 
except evidence necessary to establish that the 
employee made the disclosure or communication 
such employee alleges was protected by subpara-
graphs (A), (B), and (C) of subsection (j)(1).’’. 
(b) 
RETALIATORY
REVOCATION
OF
SECURITY 
CLEARANCES
AND ACCESS DETERMINATIONS.—Section 
3001 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 
Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 435b) is amended by adding at 
the end, as amended by subsection (a) of this section, is 
further amended by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(j) RETALIATORY
REVOCATION
OF
SECURITY 
CLEARANCES AND ACCESS DETERMINATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Agency personnel with au-
thority over personnel security clearance or access 
determinations shall not take or fail to take, or 
threaten to take or fail to take, any action with re-
spect to any employee’s security clearance or access 
determination because of— 
‘‘(A) any disclosure of information to the 
Director of National Intelligence (or an em-
ployee designated by the Director of National 
Intelligence for such purpose) or the head of 
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the employing agency (or employee designated 
by the head of that agency for such purpose) by 
an employee that the employee reasonably be-
lieves evidences— 
‘‘(i) a violation of any law, rule, or 
regulation, and occurs during the conscien-
tious carrying out of official duties; or 
‘‘(ii) gross mismanagement, a gross 
waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 
a substantial and specific danger to public 
health or safety; 
‘‘(B) any disclosure to the Inspector Gen-
eral of an agency or another employee des-
ignated by the head of the agency to receive 
such disclosures, of information which the em-
ployee reasonably believes evidences— 
‘‘(i) a violation of any law, rule, or 
regulation, and occurs during the conscien-
tious carrying out of official duties; or 
‘‘(ii) gross mismanagement, a gross 
waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 
a substantial and specific danger to public 
health or safety; 
‘‘(C) any communication that complies 
with— 
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‘‘(i) subsection (a)(1), (d), or (h) of 
section 8H of the Inspector General Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); 
‘‘(ii) subsection (d)(5) (A), (D), or 
(G) of section 17 of the Central Intel-
ligence Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 
403q); or 
‘‘(iii) subsection (k)(5) (A), (D), or 
(G), of section 103H of the National Secu-
rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403–3h); 
‘‘(D) the exercise of any appeal, complaint, 
or grievance right granted by any law, rule, or 
regulation; 
‘‘(E) testifying for or otherwise lawfully as-
sisting any individual in the exercise of any 
right referred to in subparagraph (D); or 
‘‘(F) cooperating with or disclosing infor-
mation to the Inspector General of an agency, 
in accordance with applicable provisions of law 
in connection with an audit, inspection, or in-
vestigation conducted by the Inspector General, 
if the actions described under subparagraphs (D) 
through (F) do not result in the employee or appli-
cant unlawfully disclosing information specifically re-
quired by Executive order to be kept classified in the 
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interest of national defense or the conduct of foreign 
affairs. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Consistent 
with the protection of sources and methods, nothing 
in paragraph (1) shall be construed to authorize the 
withholding of information from the Congress or the 
taking of any personnel action against an employee 
who discloses information to the Congress. 
‘‘(3) DISCLOSURES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A disclosure shall not 
be excluded from paragraph (1) because— 
‘‘(i) the disclosure was made to a per-
son, including a supervisor, who partici-
pated in an activity that the employee rea-
sonably believed to be covered by para-
graph (1)(A)(ii); 
‘‘(ii) the disclosure revealed informa-
tion that had been previously disclosed; 
‘‘(iii) of the employee’s motive for 
making the disclosure; 
‘‘(iv) the disclosure was not made in 
writing; 
‘‘(v) the disclosure was made while 
the employee was off duty; or 
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‘‘(vi) of the amount of time which has 
passed since the occurrence of the events 
described in the disclosure. 
‘‘(B) REPRISALS.—If a disclosure is made 
during the normal course of duties of an em-
ployee, the disclosure shall not be excluded from 
paragraph (1) if any employee who has author-
ity to take, direct others to take, recommend, or 
approve any personnel action with respect to 
the employee making the disclosure, took, failed 
to take, or threatened to take or fail to take a 
personnel action with respect to that employee 
in reprisal for the disclosure. 
‘‘(4) AGENCY ADJUDICATION.— 
‘‘(A) REMEDIAL
PROCEDURE.—An em-
ployee or former employee who believes that he 
or she has been subjected to a reprisal prohib-
ited by paragraph (1) of this subsection may, 
within 90 days after the issuance of notice of 
such decision, appeal that decision within the 
agency of that employee or former employee 
through proceedings authorized by paragraph 
(7) of subsection (a), except that there shall be 
no appeal of an agency’s suspension of a secu-
rity clearance or access determination for pur-
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poses of conducting an investigation, if that 
suspension lasts not longer than 1 year (or a 
longer period in accordance with a certification 
made under subsection (b)(7)). 
‘‘(B) CORRECTIVE
ACTION.—If, in the 
course of proceedings authorized under sub-
paragraph (A), it is determined that the ad-
verse security clearance or access determination 
violated paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 
agency shall take specific corrective action to 
return the employee or former employee, as 
nearly as practicable and reasonable, to the po-
sition such employee or former employee would 
have held had the violation not occurred. Such 
corrective action shall include reasonable attor-
ney’s fees and any other reasonable costs in-
curred, and may include compensatory damages 
not to exceed $300,000, back pay and related 
benefits, and travel expenses. 
‘‘(C) CONTRIBUTING
FACTOR.—In deter-
mining whether the adverse security clearance 
or access determination violated paragraph (1) 
of this subsection, the agency shall find that 
paragraph (1) of this subsection was violated if 
a disclosure described in paragraph (1) was a 
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contributing factor in the adverse security clear-
ance or access determination taken against the 
individual, unless the agency demonstrates by 
clear and convincing evidence that it would have 
taken the same action in the absence of such 
disclosure, giving the utmost deference to the 
agency’s assessment of the particular threat to 
the national security interests of the United 
States in the instant matter. 
‘‘(5) APPELLATE REVIEW OF SECURITY CLEAR-
ANCE ACCESS DETERMINATIONS BY DIRECTOR OF 
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 
term ‘Board’ means the appellate review board 
established under section 204 of the Whistle-
blower Protection Enhancement Act of 2011 
Platts-Van Hollen Whistleblower Protection En-
hancement Act of 2011. 
‘‘(B) APPEAL.—Within 60 days after re-
ceiving notice of an adverse final agency deter-
mination under a proceeding under paragraph 
(4), an employee or former employee may ap-
peal that determination to the Board. 
‘‘(C) POLICIES
AND
PROCEDURES.—The 
Board, in consultation with the Attorney Gen-
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eral, Director of National Intelligence, and the 
Secretary of Defense, shall develop and imple-
ment policies and procedures for adjudicating 
the appeals authorized by subparagraph (B). 
The Director of National Intelligence and Sec-
retary of Defense shall jointly approve any 
rules, regulations, or guidance issued by the 
Board concerning the procedures for the use or 
handling of classified information. 
‘‘(D) REVIEW.—The Board’s review shall 
be on the complete agency record, which shall 
be made available to the Board. The Board may 
not hear witnesses or admit additional evidence. 
Any portions of the record that were submitted 
ex parte during the agency proceedings shall be 
submitted ex parte to the Board. 
‘‘(E) FURTHER
FACT-FINDING
OR
IM-
PROPER DENIAL.—If the Board concludes that 
further fact-finding is necessary or finds that 
the agency improperly denied the employee or 
former employee the opportunity to present evi-
dence that, if admitted, would have a substan-
tial likelihood of altering the outcome, the 
Board shall remand the matter to the agency 
from which it originated for additional pro-
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ceedings in accordance with the rules of proce-
dure issued by the Board. 
‘‘(F) DE
NOVO
DETERMINATION.—The 
Board shall make a de novo determination, 
based on the entire record and under the stand-
ards specified in paragraph (4), of whether the 
employee or former employee received an ad-
verse security clearance or access determination 
in violation of paragraph (1). In considering the 
record, the Board may weigh the evidence, 
judge the credibility of witnesses, and determine 
controverted questions of fact. In doing so, the 
Board may consider the prior fact-finder’s op-
portunity to see and hear the witnesses. 
‘‘(G) ADVERSE SECURITY CLEARANCE OR 
ACCESS DETERMINATION.—If the Board finds 
that the adverse security clearance or access de-
termination violated paragraph (1), it shall then 
separately determine whether reinstating the se-
curity clearance or access determination is 
clearly consistent with the interests of national 
security, with any doubt resolved in favor of na-
tional security, under Executive Order 12968 
(60 Fed. Reg. 40245; relating to access to clas-
sified information) or any successor thereto (in-
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cluding any adjudicative guidelines promulgated 
under such orders) or any subsequent Executive 
order, regulation, or policy concerning access to 
classified information. 
‘‘(H) REMEDIES.— 
‘‘(i) CORRECTIVE
ACTION.—If the 
Board finds that the adverse security 
clearance or access determination violated 
paragraph (1), it shall order the agency 
head to take specific corrective action to 
return the employee or former employee, 
as nearly as practicable and reasonable, to 
the position such employee or former em-
ployee would have held had the violation 
not occurred. Such corrective action shall 
include reasonable attorney’s fees and any 
other reasonable costs incurred, and may 
include compensatory damages not to ex-
ceed $300,000 and back pay and related 
benefits. The Board may recommend, but 
may not order, reinstatement or hiring of 
a former employee. The Board may order 
that the former employee be treated as 
though the employee were transferring 
from the most recent position held when 
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seeking other positions within the executive 
branch. Any corrective action shall not in-
clude the reinstating of any security clear-
ance or access determination. The agency 
head shall take the actions so ordered 
within 90 days, unless the Director of Na-
tional Intelligence, the Secretary of En-
ergy, or the Secretary of Defense, in the 
case of any component of the Department 
of Defense, determines that doing so would 
endanger national security. 
‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDED ACTION.—If the 
Board finds that reinstating the employee 
or former employee’s security clearance or 
access determination is clearly consistent 
with the interests of national security, it 
shall recommend such action to the head of 
the entity selected under subsection (b) 
and the head of the affected agency. 
‘‘(I) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(i) ORDERS.—Consistent with the 
protection of sources and methods, at the 
time the Board issues an order, the Chair-
person of the Board shall notify— 
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