March 26, 2025 

Sen. Blumenthal  

503 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Sen. Blumenthal,  

We write to you to enthusiastically commend you for reintroducing the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act (CWPA) of 2025. The CWPA would establish the safest legal channels for the free flow of information to Congress, provide a desperately necessary window into the operations of government agencies, and empower Congress to better exercise its oversight and legislative authority. The proposed legislation would grant all federal employees who blow the whistle to Congress the right to bring their cases to court and seek justice from a jury, which would be a real enforcement mechanism to turn to if their right to furnish information to Congress is interfered with or denied. This provides crucial further protection for Members of Congress to hear from whistleblowers. Congress should prioritize and pass this bill with urgency. 

As a coalition of whistleblower advocates, the Make It Safe Coalition (MISC) understands the deep need for this legislation. MISC is a nonpartisan coalition fighting for whistleblower protections and legislation and against government and corporate fraud, waste, and abuse, through education and advocacy. We are united in the cause of protecting those who honor their duties to the public as whistleblowers. MISC is comprised of whistleblower advocates and whistleblowers themselves with decades of expertise and has supported a steady stream of whistleblowers who have come forward with critical information throughout all prior Republican and Democratic Administrations.  

Whistleblower advocates with decades of experience defending whistleblowers – in court, in Congress, and in the arena of public opinion – have long supported this legislation. This legislation is the most significant breakthrough Congress could give to whistleblowers. MISC commends Sen. Blumenthal and the co-sponsors for championing the rights of federal employes who bravely come forward to Congress and who speak out on behalf of the public interest. 

Crucially, the CWPA would incentivize whistleblowers to come to Congressmembers, as they would know that their rights and remedies could be enforced – and those whistleblower tips and information would help Congressmembers pinpoint areas of the federal government that need more oversight because of risks of fraud, waste and abuse. 

When the legislation was introduced in the prior Congress, Government Accountability Project shared that, “Our decades of experience helping over ten thousand whistleblowers in the federal government have demonstrated the recurring challenges whistleblowers face due to flaws in the existing laws and how to best address them. Our experts provided feedback on this bill during the initial drafting process and strongly support the legislation.” 

This legislation has the longstanding support of a number of whistleblower advocate groups. National Whistleblower Center’s Board Chairman Stephen M Kohn noted, “The only way to ensure that federal employees who testify before Congress are not subjected to retaliation is to guarantee their right to fight being fired in court. If Congress wants to hear the truth they must support their witnesses. It’s that simple.” Whistleblowers of America’s Jackie Garrick noted, “There needs to be renewed commitment and enforcement of whistleblower protections when these employees exercise their 1st Amendment rights. With a mandate, these constitutional rights crumble.” Project on Government Oversight’s Joe Spielberger reiterated that, “whistleblowers are absolutely essential to exposing executive branch abuse of power and allowing Congress to fully exercise its oversight and legislative authorities.” The legislation continues to have the strong support of Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Transparency International U.S. as well. 

Government Accountability Project and other whistleblower advocates provided substantial legislative text support and best practice advice when the legislation was originally introduced. 

The whistleblower protections in the CWPA would demonstrate to potential whistleblowers that it is indeed safe to share their concerns with Members of Congress, helping to protect the interest of the American public.  

A Congress that genuinely supports whistleblowers should be the leader on protections for whistleblowers. 

We thank you for your work in championing whistleblowers in the Senate. Whistleblowers need elected officials like you who understand and actively fight for the importance of protections in law.  

We look forward to seeing the legislation being fully considered in this 119th Congress. We strongly urge the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chair Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin, to move the legislation forward with a full committee hearing, a markup, and a vote. 

Sincerely,  
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) 
Project on Government Oversight (POGO) 
Government Accountability Project (GAP) 
National Whistleblower Center (NWC) 
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) 
Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) 
Transparency International U.S. (TI US) 
 
CC:  
Chair Chuck Grassley, Senate Judiciary Committee  
Ranking Member Durbin, Senate Judiciary Committee 
 
Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR] 
Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT] 
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI] 
Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-MD]  
Sen. Alex Padilla [D-CA] 
Sen. Edward J. Markey [D-MN] 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN] 
Sen. Mazie K. Hirono [D-HI] 
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV] 
Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-WI]