Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that protects federal employees or applicants from discrimination or demotion if they disclose credible evidence of waste, abuse, gross mismanagement, or substantial and specific danger to public health.

Highlights:

• Protects disclosures by a federal employee or applicant that are believed to be credible evidence of waste, abuse, gross mismanagement, or substantial and specific danger to public health or safety without restriction as to time, place, form, motive, context, or prior disclosure (Sec. 2).

• Defines "disclosure" as a formal or informal communication, not including a communication concerning policy decisions that lawfully exercise discretionary authority unless the employee providing the disclosure reasonably believes that the disclosure evidences (Sec. 3):
• Any violation of law; or
• Mismanagement, waste, abuse of authority, or a danger to the public.

• Establishes a legal standard for determining whether a whistleblower has a reasonable belief that a disclosure evidences governmental waste, fraud, or abuse, or a violation of the law. (Sec. 4).

• Gives the President the authority to exclude certain agencies engaged in the conduct of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities from whistleblower protections if such exclusion is made prior to any personnel action against the whistleblower. (Sec. 6).

• Gives the Merit Systems Protection Board the authority to impose disciplinary action for prohibited personnel practices. (Sec. 9).

• States that an employee of a protected agency may not be discharged, demoted, or discriminated against as a reprisal for making a disclosure of covered information to an authorized Member of Congress, authorized executive official, or the Inspector General of the covered agency. (Sec. 10).

• Adds to the definition of "abuse of authority" (Sec. 13):
• Actions that compromise the validity of federally funded research or analysis; and
• The dissemination of false or misleading scientific, medical, or technical information.

Full Bill Text
Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text