{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr5790-114/featured_federal-bureau-of-investigation-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act-of-2016-1472703428.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr5790-114/featured_large_federal-bureau-of-investigation-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act-of-2016-1472703428.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr5790-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2016-07-14","title_override":"Do FBI Whistleblowers Need Better Protection From Retaliation?","summary_override":"

This bill would expand protections for employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who report instances of waste, fraud, and abuse up the chain of command. It would also streamline the process for investigating incidents of retaliation against whistleblowers.

If an FBI employee or an applicant for a position at the Bureau files a whistleblower complaint with the Office of the Inspector General, up their direct chain of command, or to other designated entities they would be explicitly protected from being targeted for retaliation. The legislation would also make it easier to identify retaliation against whistleblowers by defining the types of personnel actions that constitute retaliation.

The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General would be given the sole authority to investigate claims of retaliation against whistleblowers. Administrative judges would be tasked with hearing the cases, thus giving FBI employees the ability to appeal to the federal courts.

Under current law, FBI employees are exempt from the Whistleblower Protection Act, meaning that they’re required to report whistleblower complaints to specific offices rather than up their chain of command.

","official_title":"To provide adequate protections for whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.","short_title":"Federal Bureau of Investigation Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2016","popular_title":null,"short_summary":null,"summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"FBI employees or job applicants who file whistleblower complaints; FBI employees who supervise complainants or deal with compalints; the FBI; and the DOJ.","argument_for":"FBI whistleblowers should feel secure in knowing that they won’t be retaliated against for reporting waste, fraud, abuse, or other misconduct and current law doesn’t offer them that.","argument_against":"There are already laws on the books protecting FBI whistleblowers, they just need to follow the proper procedures and go to the Inspector General rather than their supervisors.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr5790-114","bill_id":"hr5790-114","formal_id":"H.R. 5790","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2016-12-16T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":true,"enacted_at":"2016-12-16","vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2016-12-10T00:00:00.000Z","debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/5790","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr5790ih/html/BILLS-114hr5790ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr5790-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/5790/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2016-07-14","related_bill_ids":["s2390-114"],"progress":"Enacted","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":true,"position_count":205,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Oversight and Reform","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSGO","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr5790-114","details":"/api/bills/hr5790-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr5790-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr5790-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr5790-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":12,"slug":"hr5790-114-federal-bureau-of-investigation-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act-of-2016","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr5790-114","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":3003,"yea_vote_count":2905,"nay_vote_count":90,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":true,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["crime-and-police"],"issue_ids":["crime-and-police","transparency"],"sponsor_id":468}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"crime-and-police","name":"Crime & Police","slug":"crime-and-police","description":"Federal legislation related to the prevention of crimes(from assault to organized crime to juvenile crime), firearms and explosives, correctional facilities and terrorism. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.","page_title":"Crime Prevention Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/crime-and-police/black_crime-and-police-1429042040.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/crime-and-police/grey_crime-and-police-1429042040.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/crime-and-police/white_crime-and-police-1429042040.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"transparency","name":"Transparency","slug":"transparency","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Transparency. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Transparency Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/transparency/black_transparency-1453508996.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/transparency/grey_transparency-1453508996.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/transparency/white_transparency-1453508996.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"quecaliente","vote_count":39,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/0Z7bBzoW/large_0z7bbzow-1480712162.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/0Z7bBzoW/small_0z7bbzow-1480712162.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/0Z7bBzoW/tiny_0z7bbzow-1480712162.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/0Z7bBzoW/following","followers":"/api/users/0Z7bBzoW/followers"},"about_me":"Centrist, Economist.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"quecaliente","issue_count":95,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":0,"following_count":0,"position_count":22,"id":"0Z7bBzoW","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"e0f69cb9-6b9e-462b-a378-9d14930ee789","argument_for":"The government should not be keeping secrets from its citizens, whistleblowers are the most patriotic members of our government. It takes real courage to stand up and expose the most powerful entity in the world.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/e0f69cb9-6b9e-462b-a378-9d14930ee789"},"body":"The government should not be keeping secrets from its citizens, whistleblowers are the most patriotic members of our government. It takes real courage to stand up and expose the most powerful entity in the world.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-12-07T17:32:58.242Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/e0f69cb9-6b9e-462b-a378-9d14930ee789.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr5790-114","user_id":"0Z7bBzoW","endorser_ids":[]}}

Like Causes?

quecaliente

Do FBI Whistleblowers Need Better Protection From Retaliation?