Whistleblower Protection Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund : Whistleblower Protection, Fraud Claims : Washington DC

This week, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (HR. 4986). Section 846 of this bill is a provision designed to protect employees of defense contractors when they report fraud to Congress, an Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, or a Department of Defense employee charged with overseeing contracts.


The Bush administration has consistently opposed whistleblower rights for employees of the federal government and its contractors. Veto threats have been issued against the whistleblower protection legislation that has been proposed by the Congress (click here for the latest on those bills). The administration claims that protecting whistleblowers could harm national security, but the truth is the exact opposite: strong whistleblower laws can help keep this country safe and secure, as well as save us billions of dollars in wasted revenue.


In this case, the President had no choice but to sign the Defense Authorization bill into law, but then he went out of his way to express sharp disapproval of the whistleblower provisions in his signing statement. This statement (below), goes against the spirit of the law, and gives the president justification to ignore a congressional mandate.

“Provisions of the Act, including sections 841, 846, 1079, and 1222, purport to impose requirements that could inhibit the President's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch, and to execute his authority as Commander in Chief. The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.”

In short, the new law is a victory worthy of great praise, but the President’s brash treatment of legislation designed to protect honest employees is deplorable.


See the full text of HR. 4986, sec. 846 after the jump...


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This February 5th is being called "Tsunami Tuesday" as many of the big states line up for primary elections to nominate candidates for President.


Ordinarily we would be urging those of you who are politically active to take advantage of this forum. We’d tell you to call, write or hire a plane to fly a banner. Just do anything to get attention for the False Claims Act during the campaign. We are a little disappointed nobody has asked the candidates to support the False Claims Act Corrections Act at any of the seemingly endless series of snooze inducing debates. What’s one question about fighting fraud mixed in with the You-Tube chatter?


Despite this void there has been a major positive event to highlight before February 5th.


Two of the biggest states at stake on February 5, California, and Illinois, have had their own False Claims Acts for many years. New York just got on board last year. Now, perhaps sensing a tsunami of support for fighting fraud, New Jersey has joined the group. By a unanimous vote in its Senate, The Garden State enacted its own False Claims Act just in time for Feb 5th.


Were the legislators and Governor afraid not to have a False Claims Act on the books when the national press arrived to cover a presidential campaign? Probably not. Probably, the New Jersey Legislature just knew a good thing when they saw one. Now, in addition to the billions collected through the Federal FCA, whistleblowers will be able to fight fraud at the local level.


The political implications of more states enacting these laws should not be dismissed. First of all the False Claims Act is popular. Fighting fraud is the safe place to be if you are voting in any legislature. We need to remind the Congress of that simple fact early and often to push for improvements to the law. Second, the laws enacted at the state level will increase popularity for all the False Claims Acts. It can be hard to get attention for a federal case involving merely millions as opposed to billions of dollars, but at the state level smart politicians/attorneys can make a nice career out of saving their state a few million dollars and fighting fraud. That’s fine with me.

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President Bush has signed into law the first legislation in more than a decade to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act. The Open Government Act of 2007, signed by Bush on New Years eve, contains several important changes and improvements to the Freedom of Information Act.


The new law establishes enforceable deadlines for agencies to process FOIA requests; extends FOIA's reach to certain records maintained by government contractors; establishes an ombudsman to resolve disputes; creates a FOIA tracking system; restores provisions for recovery of attorneys fees by FOIA litigants who successfully prevail in court, including cases where there is a voluntary or unilateral change in the government's position after filing of the lawsuit, so long as the FOIA requester's claim is not insubstantial; and requires that any award of attorneys fees be paid out of an agency's budget and not the Treasury Department's judgment fund.


Legislative improvements to FOIA were long overdue and the Open Government Act of 2007 is intended to speed up citizen access to government information. The Freedom of Information Act is an essential tool to assist whistleblowers, journalists, citizens and watchdog groups discover what their government is up to and provide outside oversight of government activities.


A copy of the Open Government Act of 2007 is linked here

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