Do FBI Whistleblowers Need Better Protection From Retaliation? (H.R. 5790)

What is H.R. 5790?

(Updated March 1, 2018)

This bill was enacted on December 16, 2016

This bill would expand protections for employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who report instances of waste, fraud, and abuse up the chain of command. It would also streamline the process for investigating incidents of retaliation against whistleblowers.

If an FBI employee or an applicant for a position at the Bureau files a whistleblower complaint with the Office of the Inspector General, up their direct chain of command, or to other designated entities they would be explicitly protected from being targeted for retaliation. The legislation would also make it easier to identify retaliation against whistleblowers by defining the types of personnel actions that constitute retaliation.

The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General would be given the sole authority to investigate claims of retaliation against whistleblowers. Administrative judges would be tasked with hearing the cases, thus giving FBI employees the ability to appeal to the federal courts.

Under current law, FBI employees are exempt from the Whistleblower Protection Act, meaning that they’re required to report whistleblower complaints to specific offices rather than up their chain of command.

Argument in favor

FBI whistleblowers should feel secure in knowing that they won’t be retaliated against for reporting waste, fraud, abuse, or other misconduct and current law doesn’t offer them that.

Argument opposed

There are already laws on the books protecting FBI whistleblowers, they just need to follow the proper procedures and go to the Inspector General rather than their supervisors.

Impact

FBI employees or job applicants who file whistleblower complaints; FBI employees who supervise complainants or deal with compalints; the FBI; and the DOJ.

Cost of H.R. 5790

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced this bill to ensure that whistleblowers at the FBI feel empowered to come forward without fear of retaliation:

“Whistleblowers play an indispensable role in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse within federal agencies. As the only federal law enforcement employees exempt from the Whistleblower Protection Act, FBI whistleblowers need a process they can count on to protect them. They shouldn’t have to worry about losing their jobs for telling the truth. The existing process simply doesn’t work.”

This legislation has the bipartisan support of nine cosponsors in the House, including five Republicans and four Democrats.

Of Note: The Washington Post noted that FBI Director James Comey was receptive to whistleblower reforms within the Bureau at a December hearing, where he said:

“I think it’s very, very important that we create the safe zones that all of our people need to raise concerns that they might have. That’s potentially a huge range of things. So I want to be thoughtful about what we’re considering whistleblowing as we do this. But I’m open to try and improve the way we approach it.”

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) Press Release
• FedSmith
• Washington Post (Context)