Grassley Introduces Bipartisan Legislation Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Duty Bound and Government Corporation Employees

Grassley Introduces Bipartisan Legislation Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Duty Bound and Government Corporation Employees

WASHINGTON - During Sunshine Week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), co-chair of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, introduced two bills to extend whistleblower protections for duty speech disclosures and executive agency employees of government corporations. The bills are endorsed by the National Whistleblower Center and the Government Accountability Project.

"Federal law should ensure every whistleblower gets the protections they deserve, including employees who investigate misconduct and executive agency employees of a government corporation. These two bills extend whistleblower protections so more patriotic men and women can come forward to sound the alarm on waste, fraud and abuse in government without fear of retaliation. Whistleblowers shouldn't be treated like a skunk at a picnic just for telling the truth," Grassley said.

"Senator Grassley's leadership in fixing loopholes in whistleblower protections has proven, time and again, to be absolutely critical in ensuring accountability. These two bills will close loopholes, prevent illegal gag orders and ensure that employees who are simply doing their jobs cannot be fired for disclosing violations of law," said Stephen M. Kohn, Founder & Chairman of the Board, National Whistleblower Center.

"Whistleblowers should be thankful that Senator Grassley is exercising much-needed leadership to restore a credible Whistleblower Protection Act. Since 1988, he has pioneered protection against gag orders that would silence whistleblowers, and his bill would expand anti-gag protection to government corporations. Most significant, Senator Grassley's legislation would restore full Whistleblower Protection Act rights for whistleblowers who share protected information as part of their job duties, rather than allegations of government misconduct. A recent Merit Systems Protection Board canceled normal whistleblower rights for all employees permitted by their job descriptions to act against problems they discover. No other whistleblower law in the country demotes 'duty speech' to second class rights," said Tom Devine, Legal Director, Government Accountability Project.

Duty-speech disclosures:

Currently, federal employees tasked with investigating and disclosing wrongdoing do not receive the same protections from retaliation for making legally protected disclosures as other whistleblowers covered by the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA). Instead, the courts and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) have ruled that duty speech whistleblowers have a heightened burden to prove "actual retaliation," a more difficult standard to meet when attempting to bring forward a retaliation claim. Grassley's bill corrects these misguided decisions by clarifying duty speech whistleblowers, like other government whistleblowers, must prove the disclosure was a "contributing factor" in the agency's adverse action against them.

The bill is cosponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). On October 30, 2025, Grassley and Wyden, as co-chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Caucus, submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court arguing a plain text reading of WPEA requires the "contributing factor" standard, not the elevated "actual retaliation" standard.

Click HERE for text of the legislation.

Whistleblower Anti-Gag Act of 2026:

Current law requires federal agency nondisclosure policies, forms and agreements to notify employees of their right to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress, an Inspector General or the Office of Special Counsel. However, Grassley's oversight revealed executive agency government corporations are not legally required to include this anti-gag provision in their nondisclosure policies.

The Whistleblower Anti-Gag Act of 2026 closes this loophole by expanding anti-gag provision coverage to executive agency employees of the 26 government corporations, like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Export-Import Bank.

Click HERE for text of the legislation.

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