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Congresswoman Katie Hill Introduces Whistleblower Act

Congresswoman Katie Hill, D-Agua Dulce, has introduced a bill that would amend federal law in order to allow whistleblowers to report concerns about classified programs directly to their supervisors.

The bill, H.R. 1064, would amend Title 5 – the United States code that outlines the role of government organizations and employees – to allow whistleblowers to report concerns about classified programs directly to their supervisors and up their chain of command.

“We are fighting for a transparent and accountable government, which means we need to provide protections for the individuals who call out wrongdoing and let us know when something isn’t right,” Hill said. “This bill will do just that.”

According to current federal law, it is currently unlawful to retaliate against a federal employee for disclosing classified or protected information of wrongdoing to the Office of Inspector General of their agency, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel or a designated agency employee, according to officials.

H.R. 1064 would expand that list to include a supervisor in the employee’s direct chain of command, according to the text of the bill.

“It is critical that we encourage employees to blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse,” said Congressman Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, who currently serves as the chairman on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “This bill protects employees who do the right thing and report to their supervisors when classified information reveals wrongdoing in their agency.”

The bill was originally co-sponsored by Congressman Mark Meadows, who previously served as the chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations.

“Whistleblowers are critical to a culture of transparency and accountability we should all strive for in the government, and their protections should be extended to the intelligence community,” Meadows said. “Reforms in protection of whistleblowers have been a critical part of our work on the Government Operations Subcommittee over the last few years, and this important bill would take a significant step toward furthering that goal. I applaud my colleagues for taking the initiative seriously and want to thank Congresswoman Hill for her work.”

The bill has passed in the House, and is currently awaiting approval in the Senate.


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Congresswoman Katie Hill Introduces Whistleblower Act

One comment

  1. Finding solutions to problems that don’t exist. Outstanding.

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About Michael Brown

Michael Brown has lived in Santa Clarita his whole life. Graduating from Saugus High School in 2016, he continued to stay local by attending The Master’s University, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Michael joined KHTS in January of 2018 as a news intern, and has since gone on to become the News Director for the KHTS Newsroom. Since joining KHTS, Michael has covered many breaking news stories (both on scene and on air), interviewed dozens of prominent state and federal political figures, and interacted with hundreds of residents from Santa Clarita. When he is not working, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading any comic book he can get his hands on.