Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2798 To ensure whistleblowers who are Government employees or contractors receive adequate protection. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To ensure whistleblowers who are Government employees or contractors receive adequate protection. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Protec- 4 tion Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘Federal contractor’’ means a con- 8 tractor or subcontractor (at any tier) of the United 9 States Government; and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2798 IS (2) the term ‘‘personnel action’’— 1 (A) has the meaning given that term in 2 section 2302 of title 5, United States Code; and 3 (B) includes other disciplinary or corrective 4 action and performance evaluations by an em- 5 ployer. 6 SEC. 3. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR CONTRAC- 7 TORS. 8 (a) PROHIBITED PERSONNEL PRACTICES.—An em- 9 ployee of a Federal contractor who has authority to take, 10 direct others to take, recommend, or approve any per- 11 sonnel action, shall not, with respect to such authority— 12 (1) take or fail to take, or threaten to take or 13 fail to take, a personnel action with respect to any 14 employee of the Federal contractor or applicant for 15 employment by the Federal contractor because of— 16 (A) any disclosure of information by the 17 employee of the Federal contractor or applicant 18 for employment by the Federal contractor 19 which the employee of the Federal contractor or 20 applicant for employment by the Federal con- 21 tractor reasonably believes evidences— 22 (i) any violation of any law, rule, or 23 regulation; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2798 IS (ii) gross mismanagement, a gross 1 waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 2 a substantial and specific danger to public 3 health or safety, 4 if such disclosure is not specifically prohibited 5 by law and if such information is not specifi- 6 cally required by Executive order to be kept se- 7 cret in the interest of national defense or the 8 conduct of foreign affairs; or 9 (B) any disclosure to the Special Counsel, 10 or to the Inspector General of an agency or an- 11 other employee designated by the head of the 12 agency to receive such disclosures, of informa- 13 tion which the employee of the Federal con- 14 tractor or applicant for employment by the Fed- 15 eral contractor reasonably believes evidences— 16 (i) any violation (other than a viola- 17 tion of this section) of any law, rule, or 18 regulation; or 19 (ii) gross mismanagement, a gross 20 waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 21 a substantial and specific danger to public 22 health or safety; or 23 (2) take or fail to take, or threaten to take or 24 fail to take, any personnel action against any em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2798 IS ployee of the Federal contractor or applicant for em- 1 ployment by the Federal contractor for employment 2 because of— 3 (A) the exercise of any appeal, complaint, 4 or grievance right granted by any law, rule, or 5 regulation— 6 (i) with regard to remedying a viola- 7 tion of paragraph (1); or 8 (ii) other than with regard to rem- 9 edying a violation of paragraph (1); 10 (B) testifying for or otherwise lawfully as- 11 sisting any individual in the exercise of any 12 right referred to in subparagraph (A)(i) or (ii); 13 (C) cooperating with or disclosing informa- 14 tion to the Inspector General (or any other 15 component responsible for internal investigation 16 or review) of an agency, or the Special Counsel, 17 in accordance with applicable provisions of law; 18 or 19 (D) refusing to obey an order that would 20 require the individual to violate a law, rule, or 21 regulation. 22 (b) AGENCY ACTION.—A Federal agency may not 23 pressure a Federal contractor to take, fail to take, or 24 threaten to take or fail to take any personnel action relat- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2798 IS ing to an employee of the Federal contractor based on a 1 disclosure or action described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 2 subsection (a). 3 (c) RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—This section shall apply 4 to a personnel action taken or failed to be taken, or threat- 5 ened to be taken or failed to be taken before, on, or after 6 the date of enactment of this Act. 7 SEC. 4. NO TERMINATION OR PROSECUTION OF WHISTLE- 8 BLOWERS. 9 Congress reaffirms that no Federal employee or em- 10 ployee of a Federal contractor should be terminated or 11 prosecuted for making protected disclosures or any other 12 disclosures as a whistleblower. 13 SEC. 5. ENSURING SIXTH AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS. 14 Congress reaffirms that, in the case of criminal pros- 15 ecutions and impeachments arising from the disclosures 16 of whistleblowers, the accused has the right to confront 17 his or her accuser in such proceedings and that right is 18 not superseded by the whistleblower protections. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS