Promoted by Steven D.
In the morass of scandals being investigated in Washington, there’s a danger that the heroic actions of a few might be ignored at their peril. According to TPMMuckraker.com, during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Bradley Schlozman, the controversial former senior political appointee in the Civil Rights Division indicated that he was looking to fill positions with (sic) “good Americans.” Evidently, that didn’t include women, people of color or people with diverse political views.
The information came from am increasingly endangered species–federal whistleblowers.
The anonymous complaint named three female, minority lawyers whom Schlozman had transferred out of the appellate section (of African-American, Jewish, and Chinese ethnicity, respectively) for no apparent reason.
The complaint languished for two years with no recourse for the whistleblowers. Unless the Senate takes up a whistleblower protection act that was overwhelmingly passed by the House last winter, such brave acts may become even more rare in the future.
Last year the Supreme Court dealt a blow to free speech that caused few waves in public awareness: The Supreme Court scaled back protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct in a a 5-4 decision in which Justice Samuel Alito cast the deciding vote. In a victory for the Bush administration, justices said the 20 million public employees do not have free-speech protections for what they say as part of their jobs. (Garcetti v. Ceballos, 04-473)
The House took dramatic action in January to restore these rights passing HR 985 by a veto-proof majority. This would not not just be vital for DOJ employees, but especially for scientists who feel their work is being undermined. It is strongly supported by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Senators Levin, Akaka and Grassley introduced S. 274, the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act, to correct what they termed the Federal Circuit’s repeated misinterpretations of the whistleblower law. S. 274 would also strengthen the Office of Special Counsel (the agency responsible for protecting whistleblowers from reprisal) and create protections for federal employees whose security clearances are revoked or against whom an investigation is initiated simply because they blew the whistle. S.274 – the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act – will provide much needed updates to federal whistleblower protections.
To amend title 5, United States Code, to clarify which disclosures of information are protected from prohibited personnel practices; to require a statement in nondisclosure policies, forms, and agreements to the effect that such policies, forms, and agreements are consistent with certain disclosure protections, and for other purposes.
But six months later, nothing has happened. The bill is not active and nothing has happened since its introduction introduction January 11. It seems destined for the same fate it had under the previous two Republican congresses, when it was introduced and died.
Some might argue that there are other, more important issues on the table. But in the long run, there may be nothing more important than the ability of federal employees to maintain their integrity. It’s time to flex your fingers and nudge the Senate to action.
