With U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley
Q: What prompted your decades-long support for whistleblowers?
A: The founding cornerstone of American self-government “of, by and for the people” means government works for the people, not the other way around. My approach to representative government is rooted in this basic principle. I work for Iowans. That means I work tirelessly to keep in touch with my constituents. I want to know what’s on their minds and what keeps them up at night. That also means I keep a tight-fisted grip on the purse strings. Too many people in Washington think the federal treasury is a cash cow to milk for unlimited government spending. Without robust oversight, taxpayer dollars get squandered through wasteful spending, fraud and mismanagement as they make their way through the sprawling federal bureaucracy. Even if I had eyes on the back of my head, I wouldn’t be able to ferret out misuse of taxpayer dollars approved by Congress for national security, health care, pandemic relief and more. From Pentagon cost-overruns and wasteful spending, such as $1,300 coffee mugs to $10,000 toilet seat lids, I work to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Without question, information provided to my office from whistleblowers helps me do my job protecting taxpayer dollars, veterans programs and nuclear safety. It takes a lot of guts for whistleblowers to stick their necks out to report wrongdoing. That’s why I’ve led a crusade to enact whistleblower protections and incentives...
; ; ; agreed to pay $17.07 million to settle federal allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices on Friday, marking the Justice Department's first resolution unde...