Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act of 2020
Latest action · Aug 6, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 6, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act of 2020
This bill creates certain administrative and judicial remedies for federal employees whose right to provide information to Congress is interfered with or denied.
Under current law, federal employees have the right to petition or furnish information to Congress or to individual Members of Congress, and this right may not be interfered with or denied. The bill explicitly allows employees who are aggrieved by a violation of this right to seek administrative remedies that are currently available to whistleblowers who are fired or experience other forms of retaliation. The bill also establishes a private right of action for aggrieved employees, including the option of a jury trial, if an administrative remedy is not issued within 210 days of a complaint being made.
The bill applies to employees and contractors of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, including members of the intelligence community.
Cosponsors 16
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 6, 2020 to Aug 10, 2020, with 15 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-MD | Benjamin L. Cardin | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-MI | Gary C. Peters | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-RI | Sheldon Whitehouse | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
| D-DE | Thomas R. Carper | Original | Aug 6, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Aug 6, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Aug 6, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Administrative remedies
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional oversight
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Evidence and witnesses
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government Operations and Politics
- Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
- Public contracts and procurement
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Aug 6, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.