October 24, 2025
The Honorable Rand Paul
Chairman, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
295 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Gary Peters
Ranking Member, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
724 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Chairman Paul and Ranking Member Peters:
The undersigned organizations in the nonpartisan Make it Safe Coalition write to express appreciation for the Committee’s leadership defending the merit system in the withdrawn nomination of Paul Ingrassia to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. Mr. Ingrassia’s confirmation would have forced our groups to warn whistleblowers against seeking help from OSC because of his opposition to their rights. However, we are concerned that the next nominee will be a more camouflaged, sophisticated opponent of whistleblowers. We pledge to work with the Committee to ensure that whatever nominee is confirmed will be a champion of the merit system, rather than an adversary.
Even more significant, Mr. Ingrassia’s nomination should be a wake-up call. It was only the tip of an iceberg for a systematic breakdown of the merit system generally, and the Whistleblower Protection Act in particular. To illustrate, under the proposed Schedule Policy/Career, agencies that currently are the defendants will be the judges and jury of their own alleged whistleblower retaliation. This will deprive many public servants of any independent...
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