April 26, 2024 ORR Affirms Whistleblower Protections in Finalized Rule for Unaccompanied Children WASHINGTON – On April 23, 2024, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) announced its Foundational Rule to codify Flores protections for unaccompanied children. The final Rule establishes standards for the care and custody of noncitizen [...]
April 19, 2024 To: the offices sponsoring H.R.8061 and committees of jurisdiction With deep concern, our five organizations – Government Accountability Project, National Whistleblower Center, Whistleblowers of America, The Anti-Fraud (TAF) Coalition, and Empower Oversight – come together to write to you in regards to the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act as introduced yesterday, [...]
Government Accountability Project praised the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural and Marketing Service for its rule that creates the nation’s first whistleblower protection for non-employees such as contract farmers and other producers of government-approved meat and poultry.
Agencies use gag orders because “controlling the flow of information is the key to avoiding accountability that’s unwanted,” said Tom Devine, legal director of the nonprofit Government Accountability Project that works with whistleblowers. Gag orders are “more destructive than retaliation [against whistleblowers],” he added, “because the information never gets out in the first place.”
The rule, issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), will strengthen protections for nonpartisan civil servants across the country — the federal employees who serve the public regardless of the political affiliation of the President or partisan divides in Congress — from being replaced with political loyalists.
As government agencies continue efforts to recover money lost through fraud within pandemic relief programs, Government Accountability Project is supporting federal legislation that is crucial for full success in recovering these funds.
This week, Whistleblower Chile launched their website and online resources to create awareness about whistleblowing in Chile, where whistleblower rights are a novelty among the legal community.
Yesterday, Boeing whistleblower and former client, John Barnett, was confirmed dead at the age of 62 after heroically testifying in intense depositions against his former employer in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit. We send condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Barnett and to his entire legal team at Knowles Law Firm.
March 6, 2024 Senate Committee Unanimously Votes Bi-partisan Mandate for Government Contractor Whistleblower Protections WASHINGTON – This morning, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs issued a unanimous bi-partisan mandate for taxpayer accountability. In a unanimous vote, the Committee passed S. 1524, Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2023. The legislation, [...]
In a Time of War, Ukraine Still Protects Whistleblowers By Sydney Johnson On January 23, delegates from Ukraine visited our office to discuss their nation’s whistleblower legislation and to hear our view. The delegation included a prosecutor, a judge, government officials responsible for whistleblower concerns, a representative of an anti-corruption NGO, and an investigative [...]