Senate strips protections for federal whistleblowers from stimulus bill
Chamber removes safeguards for government workers but strengthens them for employees of organizations in line to receive stimulus funding.
Congressional negotiators on Wednesday cut from the $790 billion economic stimulus package provisions that would have enhanced protections for federal employees who report waste, fraud and abuse in government programs.
The final version of the bill (H.R. 1) did not include the Whistleblower Protection and Enhancement Act, which the House had attached as an amendment in late January. The language would have granted government whistleblowers the right to a jury trial in federal court, extended protections to FBI and intelligence employees, and restricted the government's ability to use state secrets privilege as justification for canceling whistleblower trials.
The provision originally was included in the stimulus package in an attempt to quell concern over how funds are spent.
The compromise version does include a number of protections for employees of institutions that receive stimulus funding. For example, the measure would provide such employees with a right of access to court, compensatory damages, and a shield against company policies that strip them of their rights as a condition of employment, said Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, on Thursday.
But Devine noted there are loopholes. For instance, the provisions expire. "Once the stimulus money is spent, contractor employee whistleblowers turn into a pumpkin," he said.
Devine added that Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who pushed to remove the provisions over national security concerns, pledged to hold hearings on the federal whistleblower provisions in the near future. Collins' office could not be reached for comment.
"They didn't think it would be responsible to make such major structural changes in the boundaries for due process and coverage for federal whistleblowers until they held hearings," Devine said.
GAP hopes Congress will find another way to pass the Whistleblower Protection and Enhancement Act within 120 days of the stimulus bill's enactment. "Where the dust settled is that the Whistleblower Protection Act wasn't included in the stimulus," Devine said, "but there won't be any interruption in the effort by both houses of Congress to get it done before the money starts being spent."