Senate excludes intelligence employees from whistleblower bill

Senators last week passed a markedly different version of whistleblower protection legislation than a House panel had previously approved, resulting in a call by one congressman for the creation of an independent office to monitor intelligence agency whistleblowers.

On a 96-0 vote, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (S. 494) that would provide expanded protection to most federal whistleblowers, but would not cover employees at several intelligence agencies. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, co-sponsored the legislation.

Specifically, workers at the FBI, the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and National Security Agency would not receive the broader protections. It also would not cover Transportation Security Administration baggage handlers. In contrast, the House committee passed a whistleblower protection bill several months ago that would include intelligence agency employees.

The Senate bill was designed to enhance safeguards for federal employees at agencies falling under the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act, which does not cover intelligence agencies, Akaka said. The omission of intelligence agencies from that version was not spurred by heightened security needs after Sept. 11, one congressional staffer said.

"This bill has been the same for a decade," said Bill Ghent, spokesman for Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del.

The Senate bill would "finally provide justice to those whose security clearance is revoked for blowing the whistle," and would lay the groundwork for establishing similar protections for the intelligence community, according to Akaka. "I am very supportive of whistleblower rights for all federal employees, including those in the intelligence agencies," he said.

After hearing the Senate omitted intelligence agency workers from its whistleblower bill, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, called for legislation that would create an independent entity to monitor intelligence.

"There should be an independent, interagency office with appropriate clearance to receive reports of fraud, waste and abuse from within the intelligence community," Thompson said. "The office should have a process to protect the whistleblower's identity while at the same time ensuring accountability within the intelligence and homeland security communities."

In April, the House Government Reform Committee passed a bill granting whistleblower protection to employees of intelligence agencies -- including the CIA, the FBI and NSA -- who disclose wasteful or fraudulent practices. Another House bill, which has not yet passed, aims to grant the same protections to the TSA baggage handlers excluded under the Senate version.

One whistleblower advocate said if intelligence agency employees are excluded from protections, managers at such agencies "can expect to be the last ones to know" of internal violations. "They'll learn about problems by reading [about] them in the papers," said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project. For intelligence officials who are privy to wasteful or illegal activities, media outlets are one of "the last places they still have rights," he said.

The Senate bill protects whistleblowers whose security clearances are revoked after the disclosure of departmental wrongdoing, and ends the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals' lone jurisdiction of federal whistleblower cases by providing jurisdiction to the Merit Systems Protection Board, too. The bill also gives the Office of Special Counsel -- which represents whistleblowers -- additional rights to file court briefs independent of the Justice Department.