Today, Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to White House Counsel Donald McGahn II requesting that the White House take immediate action to remedy gag orders on federal employees that appear to violate multiple federal laws, including the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, which Congress passed unanimously in 2012 to protect federal employees who report waste, fraud, and abuse.
“For more than a century, Congress has protected the rights of federal employees to communicate with Congress about waste, fraud, and abuse in the Executive Branch," the Ranking Members wrote. “We urge you to immediately rescind all policies on employee communications that do not comply with the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and other federal statutes."
“In addition," the Ranking members wrote, “because of the magnitude of these problematic directives, we request that the President issue an official statement making clear to all federal employees that they have the right to communicate with Congress and that he and his Administration will not silence or retaliate against whistleblowers."
In today’s letter, the Ranking Members referenced multiple reports that the Trump Administration issued restrictions at multiple agencies on employee communications including, in some instances, communications with Congress. For example, a memo issued at the Department of Health and Human Services on President Trump’s first day in office prohibits employees from communicating with Congress.
The Ranking Members explained that these directives appear to violate the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, sections 744 and 713 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, and 5 U.S.C. § 7211, which was enacted in 1912 to protect the rights of federal employees to communicate with Congress.
The Office of Special Counsel, which is charged with protecting whistleblower rights for federal employees, issued information yesterday on its enforcement of the anti-gag order provision in the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, under which agencies are prohibited from imposing “nondisclosure agreements and policies that fail to include required language that informs employees that their statutory right to blow the whistle supersedes the terms and conditions of the nondisclosure agreement or policy."
