The Whistleblower Empowerment, Security and Taxpayer
Protection Act
Senator Frank Lautenberg
The Whistleblower
Empowerment, Security and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2005 (WESTPAct) is a
brand new approach to whistleblower protection that provides an alternative to
the failed models of the past.
Congress
overwhelmingly recognizes the need to protect whistleblowers who protect public
safety and save tax dollars. Despite
having written and rewritten the Whistleblower Protection Act, the law
continues to be a hollow promise for those it is supposed to protect. Whistleblowers often sacrifice their careers
to protect our country, but they rarely receive the justice they deserve.
Since
1999, only 2 out of 30 whistleblowers have prevailed on the merits of their
case before the Merit Systems Protection Board, and on appeal, the results are
even worse. Our security may be
endangered and countless taxpayer dollars may be wasted each year because
whistleblowers do not feel empowered to report wrongdoing.
What WESTPAct Does
Right
now, managers who retaliate against whistleblowers get off basically scot-free,
even though whistleblower retaliation is against the law. Only the agency, the defendant in any case
brought by the whistleblower, can take disciplinary action against a
manager. That is a rarity. Furthermore, whistleblowers have almost no
remedy: the best they can do is recover the pay they should have gotten
anyway. That is not justice.
WESTPAct
puts imposes consequences for retaliation and empowers whistleblowers to stand
up for themselves.
A New Process for
Whistleblowers
WESTPAct
creates a new process for whistleblowers to obtain corrective action and
redress of their grievances, while still giving whistleblowers the option of
using the old system. Under WESTPAct,
whistleblowers would:
·
Be guaranteed that
Inspectors General would be more independent and have established channels to
receive whistleblower complaints;
·
Be able to complain to
members of Congress, law enforcement, or other authorized officials of
misconduct;
·
Be able to recover
damages and reversal of personnel actions in district court if retaliated
against;
·
Be protected from
retaliation no matter which government agency they work for, or if they work
for a federal contractor;
·
Be protected from having
their security clearance revoked in retaliation for whistleblowing; and
·
Be assured that their
case could not be thrown out of court because of a frivolous classification of
information.
·
Be granted increased
transparency when a President exercises his power to exclude agencies from
Whistleblower protections.
Those
who retaliate against whistleblowers would be held accountable:
·
Retaliators and those who
engage in prohibited personnel practices would be guilty of a civil offense;
·
In a case where a
whistleblower reports a violation of the law, retaliators would be guilty of
Obstruction of Justice;
·
Whistleblowers would be
able to petition the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel in cases
where there is a significant likelihood of political interference.
Key Provisions
·
Amends Obstruction of
Justice statutes (18 USC 1512-13) to protect disclosures of any illegal
activity (not just criminal activity), and to protect disclosures to Members of
Congress, inspectors general, and other authorized officials.
·
Holds those who engage
in whistleblower retaliation and other prohibited personnel practices under 5
USC 2302 (which includes the Whistleblower Protection Act) liable for a civil
penalty not to exceed $50,000.
·
Expands 5 USC 2302 to
cover employees of the FBI. Expands the
Whistleblower Protection Act to cover employees of federal contractors.
·
Expands the
Whistleblower Protection Act to cover employees of intelligence agencies in the
case of lawful, non-public disclosures.
·
More clearly lists the
activities that are covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act.
·
Requires the President
to report to Congress when he exercises his authority under the Whistleblower
Protection Act to exclude positions from its coverage.
·
Allows those whose
security clearance has been revoked as retaliation for whistleblowing to
recover damages, but leaves the decision on whether to restore security
clearance to the executive branch.
·
Improves independence of
inspectors general by giving them budget autonomy, imposing a fixed term of
office and specifying clear criteria for removal.
·
Requires inspectors
general to maintain avenues for whistleblowers to report waste, fraud and
abuse.
·
Allows all U.S.
Attorneys to prosecute whistleblower retaliation and civil violations of 5 USC
2302. Allows whistleblowers to petition
the Attorney General to create a special prosecutor in cases that have a substantial
likelihood of political interference.
·
Creates procedures that
prevent the government from frivolously asserting state secrets privileges
while assuring that classified information will not be disclosed.