Source: https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=3CB2434C-E607-435F-A9C3-0F38A20249DD
Timestamp: 2020-02-22 09:12:29
Document Index: 535832996

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2302', '§ 2302', '§ 2302', '§ 744', '§ 601', '§ 701', '§ 2303', '§ 4712', '§ 2409', '§ 7211', '§ 713', '§ 2302']

Bipartisan Group of Senators Calls on Agencies to Support Employees who Shine Light on Fraud, Waste & Abuse - Press Releases - Senator Joni Ernst
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of Senators, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, is expressing the need to protect and encourage whistleblowers who shine light on fraud, waste and mismanagement in government. In a letter today to 18 federal agencies, 11 members of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus are calling on government leaders to promote a culture that welcomes whistleblower disclosures and condemns attacks on whistleblower rights.
Joining Grassley on the letter are senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.).
Full text of the letter follow:
[1] S. Res. 522, 114th Cong. (2016) (enacted) (citing legislation of July 30, 1778, reprinted in Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford, et al. (Washington, D.C., 1904–37), 11:732). The 2016 Whistleblower Appreciation Day resolution was sponsored by the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus.
[2] Exec. Order No. 12,731, 3 C.F.R. 306 (1990) (emphasis added).
[3] 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8)(A)(i)–(ii) (2012) (emphasis added); id. § 2302(b)(9) (protecting employees who, among other things, exercise any right granted by law, rule, or regulation or who cooperate with an Inspector General or the Office of Special Counsel); and id. § 2302(b)(13) (requiring any non-disclosure agreement to contain a clear exception for lawful whistleblowing); Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, div. E, title VII, 129 Stat. 2485, § 744 (2015). Employees of the Intelligence Community also are protected under a separate regime pursuant to Presidential Policy Directive 19, the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2014, and the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. Presidential Policy Directive 19, Protecting Whistleblowers with Access to Classified Information (Oct. 10, 2012); Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-126, §§ 601–04, 128 Stat. 1390, 1414–22 (2014); Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, Pub. L. No. 105-272, §§ 701–02, 112 Stat. 2397, 2413–17 (1998). Employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are protected under 5 U.S.C. § 2303 which now also explicitly clarifies that the statute protects disclosures to supervisors, the Office of Special Counsel, and Congress. Federal Bureau of Investigation Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-302, 130 Stat. 1516 (2016).
[4] 41 U.S.C. app. § 4712 (2016); 10 U.S.C. § 2409 (2012).
[5] Brief for Members of Congress as Amici Curiae Supporting Respondent, Dep’t of Homeland Sec. v. MacLean, No. 13-894, 2014 WL 4925075, at *7 (U.S. Sept. 29, 2014).
[6] 5 U.S.C. § 7211 (2012) (“The right of employees, individually or collectively, to petition Congress or a Member of Congress, or to furnish information to either House of Congress, or to a committee or Member thereof, may not be interfered with or denied.”)
[7] Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, div. E, title VII, 129 Stat. 2475, § 713, (2015); Letter from Susan A. Poling, Gen. Counsel, U.S. Gov’t Accountability Office to Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, S. Comm. on the Judiciary, Jason Chaffetz, Chairman, H. Comm. on Oversight and Gov’t Reform, and Bob Goodlatte, H. Comm. on the Judiciary re: GAO Op. B-325124 (Apr. 5, 2016) (available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/676341.pdf).
[8] 5 U.S.C. § 2302(c) (2012) (“The head of each agency shall be responsible for the prevention of prohibited personnel practices, for the compliance with and enforcement of applicable civil service laws, rules, and regulations, and other aspects of personnel management, and for ensuring (in consultation with the Office of Special Counsel) that agency employees are informed of the rights and remedies available to them under this chapter and chapter 12 of this title, including how to make a lawful disclosure of information that is specifically required by law or Executive order to be kept classified in the interest of national defense or the conduct of foreign affairs to the Special Counsel, the Inspector General of an agency, Congress, or other agency employee designated to receive such disclosures.”).
Share This: https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/3/bipartisan-group-of-senators-calls-on-agencies-to-support-employees-who-shine-light-on-fraud-waste-abuse