[inaudible conversations] the subcommittee will come to order the chair can authorize a recess said in a time ally will differ to the Ranking Member for an Opening Statement. Federal employees below the low whistle on waste fraud and abuse on the frontlines on the effort to insure our government functions efficiently and effectively. There is a strong bipartisan report and for holding todays hearing to form the bedrock of the very whistleblower protections from the subcommittee. Five years ago the bipartisan enhancement act of 2012 significantly cut the right of federal employees. This legislation mark substantial progress uh gaps remain we must continue for all federal employees. Ill look forward to hearing from our witnesses under current law such as the big south jim proposals to address those challenges and to mark up the bill i have sponsored to follow the rules sacked. Ruling those today in order ob if violates a statute but that was never the intent of the law. But this bill clarifies the whistleblower protection act as a regional be intended is not a statute. But those changes are not enough. Congress must provide inspectors general with the resources they need to investigate enforce protections under the law. For example, we have heard of retaliation that psa that sounds like the wild west. And we cannot commend bet i was alarmed to hear reports that all the days after the inauguration that certain federal agencies had issued a gag orders on federal employees. One memo issued by the acting secretary of the very first day in office, no correspondence, specifically a authorized between now and february 3rd. That language that prevents them from speaking with members of congress on his own appears to violate a number of federal laws and is certainly send the chilling message to federal employees. To insure those communications are complying with a lot. Is my hope moving forward in israel is that on this subject. To an the bedrock of then hanse attacked. And must provide oversight under the law. And welcome thanks to the gentleman from florida of four gaveling as san my apologies sketch to the committee of oversight we appreciate your interest in this topic and welcome your participation today. In the interest of time i will skip ely Opening Statement and to hear from you. Dont worry i speak for both of us. No doubt about that. [laughter] that we are attached at the hip but we will hold the record open and 45 legislative days. I asses be entered into the record. I am pleased to the deputy inspected general into the deputy special counsel hopes for litigation of special affairs and the legal director at of a Government Accountability project and policy tools sold on government oversight. We ask call witnesses be sworn in before they testify. Please rise and raise your right hand. To swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth . Let the record reflect all witnesses answered in the affirmative. I would appreciate if you please limit your testimony to five minutes. The chair recognizes for the full committee for an Opening Statement. I really appreciate your indulgence. Whistleblower protections are bill to on the foundation of to process protections for by look forward to the testimony how we can continue that all federal employees to blow the whistle are projected to is the enhancement act of 2012 as an original cosponsor of the bill which significantly expanded the protections available to government red workers were exposed their jobs reporting wrongdoing said no. Have come before us but unfortunately it appears the trump of administration in the first week has already violated the enhancement act only days after the inauguration that federal agencies issued gag orders on federal complete communications including those with conagras. We have obtained one of these memos that were issued by the new acting secretary of department of hhs and tried to prohibit federal employees from speaking to members of congress. Let me repeat that. The trump did ministrations tries to prevent federal and pleased to speak to members of congress and something is wrong with that picture. , that violates the enhancement act because it does not include what we require to protect whistleblowers but any disclosure policy to include a mandatory statement including specifically communications with congress and reid passes unanimously. Now they first tried to deny that then they have a clarifying statement the minders standing is even a the clarifying statements still fails to include a mandatory statement from the whistleblower protection act. I ask the this committee to obtain all emails and other communication in the position at hhs relating to this directive and clarification as well as prohibiting federal employees from speaking to congress. I am making a simple request back i have no idea what you last i was otherwise in gauge. I did not mean to catch you offguard per you have been wonderful and i appreciated. I said to seek and obtain all communication of the bills of the anybody at hhs relating to the directive of the subsequent clarification to prevent federal employees speaking to members of congress. That should be a nobrainer. The gentleman knows very well matter who is in the white house the chairman believes that having open communication between members of the federal government and members of congress is something that should not be inhibited. So certainly i am open to following up to make sure we have clarification and to make sure the message is loud and clear and open and transparent government is something that the administration supports as wall. This is not the only active they have taken. The team has names of employees who had worked on Climate Change initiatives. Another request was made to the state department with regard to staffing in those positions related to gender equity and violence against women lighthouse spokesperson said the state department in please should get with the program or they can go. The director of the office of government ethics said the tone from the top matters. I am afraid his tone will discourage whistleblowers exactly the opposite of what we hope to accomplish through the enhancement act. Theres still time for this and ministration to change. What ever wrote to white House Counsel we requested the president take immediate action to rescind all policies that do not comply with the whistle blower protection and enhancement act. Also urging him to issue an official statement that all employees have the right that will not be silenced retaliated. I urge that these recommendations send a clear signal that, blowers will be protected and this committee has made it clear to both sides of the aisle and with that i appreciate your indulgence and the yield back. The chair is committed to making sure we have an open and transparent accountability and that serves the american taxpayer well regardless of party for any partisan outlook. Family of the full committee but the subcommittee recognized you for five minutes i apologize to your staff who was here earlier today. Whistleblowers perform the Invaluable Service when they come forward with the wrongdoing emission never suffered think you for inviting me to speak of the role of the offices Inspector Generals play with regard to informing whistle blowers of the right to protection. Since the program was established and with the creation of such a of the federal entity it is as well. We are responsible under the act of the prohibitions to make protective disclosure those who have contemplated with the rights against italian asian. End of this important provision in it is entirely consistent from the Inspector General act itself that provides to receive investigate complaints with that person no action just as well placed to deter waste and fraud and whistleblowers are on the frontline and theyve played a critical goal to bring forward such information to ensure they are comfortable and to inform to and protected and importance to the mission. We and many others carry out our rules by creating in disseminating educational material and conducting training programs. We have then instructional video that is required for video of all managers and supervisors and available on line. We have prepared informational fliers with Contact Information for the office of special counsel the plays us central role. We have worked with the fbi and other components for their work force in the case of the fbi to redress specific requirements including the most recent from fbi also for those employees of contractors and like many counterparts to have the robust pace job website and shirley after the passage we worked through the council of the Inspector General to have a working group to share information and discuss best practices and our colleagues are active participants to facilitate coordination and cooperation and the of representatives of many other groups have met with us as well. That working group is also facilitating meetings and we partnered with osha and Congressional Staff with the successful celebration here and the capital. As Congress Considers reauthorization i close by mentioning a couple of areas. First the work redo is done by their traditional ombudsman. This may result in confusion and i am pleased to work with the committee to discuss that. May need the educational activity and the resource that is intensive and with other responsibilities in is impacted and the work in this area is so expected to increase as theyre made permanent. I am pleased to work with you and your staff on these issues i am happy to answer any questions you may have. Good afternoon Ranking Member chairman and i am thinking for the opportunity to testify for the whistleblower protection enhancement act. To discuss the key parts of the wpea to protect more whistleblowers than ever or how to make a more effective. And independent engine see one of our primary mission is to protect employees from whistleblower at retaliation since enacted five years ago the number of whistleblowers complaints has increased by 15 . For example, increasing the number of favorable outcomes by 150 and increase the disciplinary action by 117 to take further steps to strengthen the of whistleblower law through the galleries program. These protections are important because they are a vital tool with waste fraud and abuse to help save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. The one to think congress for the forceful bipartisan support and in particular representative for his sponsorship of h. R. 69 which passed the house earlier this year end this committees enthusiastic backing makes us far more effective with forward to in the new congress and beyond. Wpea is landmark legislation to help federal whistleblowers providing many new protections including authorizing the oic to shape the law by filing friendofthecourt briefs that our available to the whistleblowers to grant full protections to all t. S. Eliot please. Os siesta key succeeded in securing victories to use our new authority to file a brief with the Supreme Court from the department of Homeland Security and in the decision they agreed with arguments on behalf of a whistleblower. Since 2012 policy has received and investigated 243 retaliation cases on gsa employees that we could not investigate prior to the wpea. Another new element is the antinegative aboard air provision which ensures that protection will supersede any nondisclosure agreements and requires any non disclosure agreement includes language that clearly states the employee may still flow the whistle even after they sign the agreement or are subject to policy. And for saying baghdad provision we have obtained nearly three dozen corrective actions and issued specific guidance to agencies on this topic. Also with provisions that are set to expire this year the ombudsmans program that was discussed in the review program oic strongly recommends both of these speak made permanent and finally it has undeniably strengthened protections and further enhancement should be considered. For example, the wpea says some i ha i evidentiary burden and congress intended this to apply the jobs while it is an everyday job function they have applied this burden to jobs like teachers and purchasing agents making a harder to prove the retaliation claims and we recognize congress should clarify this burden applies only to the subset of federal workers as a chord job function. We appreciate the support for office and federal whistleblowers thank you for the opportunity to testify im happy to answer your questions. This hearing is significant because it is essential to circumvent the of mandates in because 2017 is the year of Unfinished Business of that structure to enforce that right. After 39 years was of course, would have legal rights that they could have a battle shields against retaliation. 2016 continued the pattern over the last five years of then the best in the worst of times in my written testimony talks about the encouraging role and the office of special counsel and the unprecedented whistleblowers who are making a difference. If the Supreme Court arguments whose disclosures stop during a more ambitious attempt of an elephant then to better protect the nation and Justice Scalia interjected and was successful. Is no wonder theyre receiving more respect than ever before unfortunately it is the sad truth with that track record influx the best option that exist. It continues to be a mirage. Whistleblowing is more dangerous than ever before. The first is the Administrative Agency enforcement. The tradeoff result in almost no litigation to undermine the of relevance. It could not be more than the anecdotal part of a justice but to consistently achieve the experts know remedial agency can substitute and unfortunately theyre not getting that. To be responsible stewards there conducted by administrative judges ruling in against whistleblowers when you combine that they cannot have more then they chance under the law. With the transcript because the appeal but due to vacancies they cannot issue decisions and there is no end in sight. The due process is the protection activity kiwis hell. Shifting tactics have made it less effective because it is more difficult to fire employees then open more retaliatory investigations of criminal referrals and there is no defense against this form of harassment. Then there is the sense of the jobs loophole that will assume the entire merit system if the congress doesnt act and finally, there is a lack of acceptance. Immediately after the victory, they signed up to the air marshal missions on the flights to the middle east despite intelligence for the Undercover Air marshals and he was the most visible in history. After they intervened, the agency assigned them to an empty room and refused even routine promotions into bankruptcy although he continues to make impressive disclosures about the security breaches, they will not assign him any duties due to the lack of seniority caused by its own termination. It had a process in the clearance although it was required within 14 days. Mr. Chairman, my written testimony has a full menu of suggestions for how we can deal with these challenges. Than thank you for your passionate and articulate testimony. We will be following up in earnest some of these things are things we were all aware of and some obviously not. But working and making sure that their success rate is greater and not laborious is something this committee is committed to. Thank you. Members of the subcommittee on government operations, thank you for inviting me to testify today five years ago Congress Passed the whistleblower protection and enhancement act for the federal workers who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, abuse and illegality. They clarified any whistleblower discretion may be protected including when they make a reasonable disclosure to his or her supervisor even if the supervisor is involved in the wrongdoing. The intended making the disclosure shouldnt be factored in when determining whether he or she made a protected disclosure. They file the appeal on any u. S. Court of appeals jurisdiction. The Committee Led the charge in extending the Pilot Program two years ago and we cant work to make it permanent. The enforcement hasnt been without issue. The report released two years after the passage revealed only one agency out of the 15 studies were compliant with the provision of the wall. This important provision has been called into question as recently as last week when several agencies ordered staff to see the external communications. As members of the committee recognized the directives may violate the law. Efforts to prevent employees from communicating with congress and the public could represent a threat to Public Health and safety and continued congressional oversight as necessary to make sure that this important provision continues to be implemented properly. Despite broad protection laws, the totality include a patchwork of protections depending on where the whistleblower works and the government and in what capacity. They afforded new and necessary protections to federal employees anwhen enacted but it excluded contractors despite having a proven track record of success with previous protections. Although the whistleblowers have some protection under the president ial policy directive 19, it is narrowed to be considered comprehensive and can be revoked at the president s discretion. They must have safe channels to report abuses of power in congress has the responsibility to fill accountability loopholes. The next round of legislation must include protection for the community contractors. They should acquire mandatory punishment against supervisors that retaliate. Without punishment for those that retaliate there is no substantial deterrence to violating the law. Any legislation should carefully balance Due Process Rights of employees refused with a proper chance to the defense and appeal a final decision. Decision. Recently passed legislation creates a minimum of 12 days unpaid suspension when he complained a supervisor retaliated against a whistleblower is substantiated. This should serve as a model. Its also important to update the rec