Congress needs to protect government whistleblowers
This op-ed was written by Government Accountability Project’s Legal Director Tom Devine.
“Whistleblowers play an integral part in identifying and rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and corruption within federal agencies.” This statement by House Judiciary Weaponization Subcommittee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) reflects bi-partisan rhetorical support for those who risk their careers to defend the taxpayers. Unfortunately, unlike corporate workers, government employees do not have credible free speech rights against retaliation. Whistleblowing about federal misconduct remains the sound of professional suicide, and taxpayers are the losers. Who are federal government whistleblowers, and why do they matter? The legal definition is an applicant, current, or former employee who discloses information that they reasonably believe evidences illegality, gross waste, gross mismanagement, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. Translated into English– they are public servants who use free speech rights to challenge abuses of power that betray the public trust. Why do they matter? They change the course of history by exposing misconduct that can only be sustained by secrecy.
Consider a sampling of how they’ve made a difference. They have:
A slew of NYPD officers recounted on Sunday horror stories from their careers in which they say they were falsely accused of sexual misconduct and, despite being exonerated, had the allegations sh...