I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5578 
To ensure that whistleblowers, including contractors, are protected from 
retaliation when a Federal employee orders a reprisal, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 
Mr. GARCIA of California (for himself and Mr. COMER) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Gov-
ernment Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure that whistleblowers, including contractors, are pro-
tected from retaliation when a Federal employee orders 
a reprisal, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Whistle-
blower Protections for Contractors Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEFENSE CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES: PROTECTION 
FROM REPRISAL FOR DISCLOSURE OF CER-
TAIN INFORMATION. 
Section 4701 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘An employee’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘services 
contractor’’ and inserting ‘‘A pro-
tected individual’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘disclosing’’ and 
all that follows through ‘‘evidence of’’; 
and 
(ii) by striking subparagraphs (A), 
(B), and (C) and inserting the following 
subparagraphs: 
‘‘(A) Refusing to obey an order that would re-
quire the protected individual to violate a law, rule, 
or regulation related to any contract, subcontract, 
grant, or subgrant. 
‘‘(B) Disclosing to a person or body described 
in paragraph (2) information that the protected indi-
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vidual reasonably believes is evidence of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) Gross mismanagement of any Depart-
ment of Defense contract or grant, any gross 
waste of Department funds, any abuse of au-
thority relating to any Department contract, 
subcontract, grant, or subgrant, or any viola-
tion of law, rule, or regulation related to any 
Department contract or subcontract (including 
the competition for or negotiation of a contract 
or subcontract) or grant or subgrant. 
‘‘(ii) Gross mismanagement of any Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration 
contract or grant, any gross waste of Adminis-
tration funds, any abuse of authority relating to 
an Administration contract, subcontract, grant, 
or subgrant, or any violation of law, rule, or 
regulation related to any Administration con-
tract or subcontract (including the competition 
for or negotiation of a contract or subcontract) 
or grant or subgrant. 
‘‘(iii) A substantial and specific danger to 
public health or safety.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
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(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘an employee’’ and inserting ‘‘a protected 
individual’’; and 
(ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 
inserting the following subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) it shall not be within the authority of an 
executive branch official to request that a con-
tractor, subcontractor, grantee, or subgrantee en-
gage in a reprisal prohibited by paragraph (1).’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 
the following subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) Propose appropriate disciplinary action 
against any executive branch official for any request 
made of a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, or sub-
grantee that subjected the complainant to a reprisal 
prohibited by subsection (a).’’; and 
(B) by striking paragraph (7) and insert-
ing the following paragraph: 
‘‘(7) CLARIFICATION FOR SCOPE OF WAIVER RE-
STRICTIONS.—The rights, forum, and remedies provided 
for in this section may not be waived by any public or 
private agreement, policy, form, or condition of employ-
ment, including by any predispute arbitration agree-
ment.’’; 
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(3) by striking subsection (e) and redesignating 
subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (e) and (f), re-
spectively; 
(4) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 
(A) by striking ‘‘an employee’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘a protected individual’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘the employee’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the protected individual’’; and 
(5) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) The term ‘protected individual’ means— 
‘‘(A) a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, 
or subgrantee of the Department of Defense or 
the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration, including— 
‘‘(i) the government of each of the 
several States, the District of Columbia, an 
Indian tribe or authorized tribal organiza-
tion, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Is-
lands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, or any other territory or 
possession of the United States; 
‘‘(ii) the government of any political 
subdivision of, agency of, or instrumen-
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tality of, a government listed in clause (i); 
and 
‘‘(iii) an element of the intelligence 
community (as defined in section 3 of the 
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
3003)) within the Department of Defense; 
‘‘(B) an employee of a contractor, subcon-
tractor, grantee, or subgrantee of the Depart-
ment of Defense or the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration, or a former em-
ployee of such contractor, subcontractor, grant-
ee, or subgrantee whose protected disclosure or 
engagement in any activity protected against 
reprisal under this section occurred prior to ter-
mination, including an employee of— 
‘‘(i) the government of each of the 
several States, the District of Columbia, an 
Indian tribe or authorized tribal organiza-
tion, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Is-
lands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, or any other territory or 
possession of the United States; 
‘‘(ii) the government of any political 
subdivision of, agency of, or instrumen-
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tality of, a government listed in clause (i); 
and 
‘‘(iii) an element of the intelligence 
community (as defined in section 3 of the 
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
3003)) within the Department of Defense; 
or 
‘‘(C) a person performing personal services 
for the Department of Defense or the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration pursuant 
to a contractual agreement for the performance 
of personal services, including a personal serv-
ices contract or personal services agreement, 
and who engages in an activity for which any 
reprisal is prohibited under subsection (a), in-
cluding a person performing personal services 
pursuant such a contractual agreement for— 
‘‘(i) the government of each of the 
several States, the District of Columbia, an 
Indian tribe or authorized tribal organiza-
tion, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Is-
lands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, or any other territory or 
possession of the United States; 
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National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
3003)).’’. 
Æ 
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