December 2, 2024

The Honorable Chuck Schumer Senate Majority Leader

322 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

 The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader

317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker of the House

H-232, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

 The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries House Minority Leader

2433 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Minority Leader Jeffries:

The undersigned 204 organizations committed to good government principles across political affiliations are united by our desire for accountability for taxpayer-funded government activities. We support credible free speech rights for whistleblowers who expose fraud, waste of funds or abuse of authority in federal spending. Whistleblowers serve as the public’s eyes and ears.

However, the erosion of whistleblower rights amid the surge in government spending is deeply concerning, and we call on Congress to take urgent action.

Congress has approved over four trillion dollars in new federal spending since 2020, which marks an unprecedented surge in taxpayer funds to government contractors. Remarkably, the number of contractor employees paid through federal funds often surpasses the total number of civil service workers by two to three times. In fiscal year 2021 alone, contractor spending reached $637 billion out of $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending. That number swelled to $726 billion in FY 2022, and $759 billion in FY 2023.

In 2009, as part of an $800 billion stimulus package, Congress passed robust whistleblower protections to prevent fraud in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which Inspectors General credited with minimizing fraud and corruption in ARRA spending. This time, however, Congress approved over four trillion dollars of new spending without updating the pioneer whistleblower rights that have eroded to the point of being false advertising.

Last year, Senators Peters and Braun introduced a strong, bi-partisan law that would restore and strengthen whistleblower protections for government contractors (S.1524 – Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2023). Despite a relentless campaign by contractors who have been prosecuted in the past for fraud, this past March the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee gave the reform a bi-partisan mandate with unanimous approval.

The vital shortcomings in the current government contractor whistleblower law that need repair include:

  • International Misconduct: The law fails to protect whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting misconduct occurring internationally.
  • Refusal to Violate the Law: Unlike civil service employees, government contractor workers lack protection against retaliation for refusing to violate the law.
  • Limited Jury Trials: The law no longer guarantees jury trials for due process enforcement of anti-retaliation rights in certain states.
  • Blocklisting: Whistleblowers remain unprotected against blocklisting (privately exchanging a list naming people to be barred from employment, or otherwise acting to block someone’s employment opportunities).
  • Unprotected Reprisals: The law does not shield whistleblowers from the increasingly frequent tactics of unconventional reprisals such as retaliatory civil SLAPP suits or criminal prosecutions, which have a severe chilling effect.
  • Protection for Honest Contractors: The law does not protect honest contractors that report government bullying or competitor misconduct.
  • Government Accountability for Retaliation: The law does not provide for government disciplinary accountability for those who retaliate against whistleblowers.
  • Exclusion of Intelligence Community Contractors: The law excludes intelligence community contractors from protection.

Congress must not permit the deterioration of protection for those defending the public interest by blowing the whistle on fraud, waste and abuse of government funds. We implore members from both parties to translate their commitment to protecting taxpayers’ interests into tangible action by bolstering whistleblower rights. By addressing these existing loopholes, Congress can provide whistleblowers with effective safeguards and ensure that those who protect the public can also defend themselves.

We stand together to reinforce accountability and uphold the values of transparency and integrity within government spending by strengthening whistleblower rights.

Sincerely,

350.org

Academics Stand Against Poverty

Accountability Lab

ACORN8

Action Center on Race and the Economy

Advocacy For Principled Action In Government

Affiliation of Christian Engineers

Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ)

Al Otro Lado

Alabama Black Women’s Roundtable

All About the Ballots

Alliance for Human Research Protection

Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO)

American Civil Liberties Union

American Immigration Lawyers Association

American Oversight

American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA)

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)

Americans for Immigrant Justice

Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc.

Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa

Arab American Institute (AAI)

ARTICLE 19

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action

Borderlands Resource Initiative

California Communities Against Toxics

Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition

Cause Communications

Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry

Center for Ethnic Research

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Center for Justice & Democracy

Center for Media and Democracy

Center for Progressive Reform

Center for Public Safety for Women (CPSW)

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Centre for Law and Democracy

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Clean Elections Texas

Climate Reality Greater Maryland

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety

Constitutional Alliance

Consumer Action

Consumer Federation of America

Crude Accountability

Defending Rights & Dissent

Demand Progress

EarthRights International

EES Group, Inc

Elaine Mittleman

Elders Climate Action Maryland

End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund

Equality Labs

Equity Forward

Essential Information

Faiths for Safe Water

Fix Democracy First

Fix the Court

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics

Freedom for Eurasia

Freedom Network USA

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Friends of Angola

Friends of the Earth

Global Witness

Good Jobs First

Government Accountability Project

Government Information Watch

Green Plate Catering

Greenpeace USA

Hanford Challenge

Harrington Investments, Inc.

Human Rights First

Human, Environmental and Leadership Prevalent Center (HELP Center)

IFAW – International Fund for Animal Welfare

Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project

Immigrant Legal Defense

Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA)

Indivisible Santa Fe

Integrity Initiatives International

Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

International Association of Whistleblowers

Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health

Jobs to Move America

Just Detention International

Justice in Motion

Justice Integrity Project

Kentucky Environmental Foundation

Kentucky Equal Justice Center

Kosovo Law Institute

Lamplighter Project

Law Enforcement Action Partnership

Lawyers for Equal Access to Advocacy & Dignity (LEAAD)

Liberty Shared

Ligue Camerounaise des droits humains

Maison des Organisations de la Société Civile (MOSC) Anjouan

Medical Device Problems

Metrowest Worker Center – Casa

Migrant Equity Southeast

Minnesota Freedom Fund

Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights

Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Montgomery County-Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions

Muslim American Law Enforcement Association (MALEA)

National Black Justice Coalition

National Black Worker Center

National Center for Health Research

National Center for Law and Economic Justice

National Council for Occupational Safety and Health

National Employment Law Project

National Federation of Federal Employees

National Freedom of Information Coalition

National Immigration Law Center

National Organization for Women

National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies

National Security Counselors

National Taxpayers Union

National Whistleblower Center

Network for Responsible Public Policy

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

Nia Impact Capital

No Business With Genocide

No More Guantanamos

Northwest Workers’ Justice Project

NW Workers’ Justice Project

NY Environmental Watch

Oasis Legal Services

Open Contracting Partnership

Open MIC

Open The Government

Oregonizers

OTAC

Our Bodies Ourselves

Oxfam America

Peace Action

People For the American Way

People Power United

People’s Parity Project

Prisoners Legal Advocacy Network

Privacy Times

Professional Managers Association

Project On Government Oversight

Protect All Children’s Environment

Protect Democracy

Public Citizen

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Public Justice Center

Public-Private Integrity

ReachScale

Reseua Nigerien des Defenseurs des Droits Humains (RNDDH)

Restore The Fourth

Revolving Door Project

Rivers Edge Pain relief

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Rock the Vote

Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network

RootsAction.org

Sciencecorps

Shriver Center on Poverty Law

SMART Elections

Society of Professional Journalists

SocioEnergetics Foundation

Sojourners

Southwest Research and Information Center

Stand Up America

Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice

Taxpayers for Common Sense

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

The Coalition For Change, Inc (C4C)

The Chamberlain Network

The Digital Democracy Project

The Ecotopian Society

The Freedom BLOC

The Future We Need

The Information Trust

The Legacy of a Livable Planet, Inc.

The National Medical Malpractice Advocacy Association

The Signals Network

The Workers Circle

Third Act

Transparency International Taiwan

Transparency International US

Truckers Justice Center

Tulipshare

Tully Center for Free Speech

Union of Concerned Scientists

United Steelworkers (USW)

Vote Common Good

Walk the Talk Foundation

Washington Office on Latin America

We Are All America

WESPAC Foundation, Inc.

Whistleblowers of America

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

Wisner Baum

Woodhull Freedom Foundation

Worker Justice Center of New York

Workplace Fairness

Workplace Justice Project, New Orleans

Worksafe

World BEYOND War

X-Lab