National Security Whistleblowers (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Dec. 30, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RL33215 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Louis Fisher, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
To discharge its constitutional duties, Congress depends on information obtained from the
executive
branch. Domestic and national security information is provided through agency reports and direct
communications from department heads, but lawmakers also receive information directly from
employees within the agencies. They take the initiative in notifying Congress, its committees, and
Members of Congress about alleged agency illegalities, corruption, and waste within the agency.
This type of information comes from a group known as whistleblowers.
Through such techniques as "gag orders" and nondisclosure agreements,
Presidents have
attempted to block agency employees from coming directly to Congress. In response, Congress has
enacted legislation in an effort to assure the uninterrupted flow of domestic and national security
information to lawmakers and their staffs. Members of Congress have made it clear they do not want
to depend solely on information provided by agency heads. Overall, the issue has been how to
protect employees who are willing to alert Congress about agency wrongdoing.
The first procedures enacted to protect agency whistleblowers appeared in the Civil Service
Reform of 1978. It also contained language that excluded protections to whistleblowers who work
in federal agencies involved in intelligence and counterintelligence. In 1989, Congress passed the
Whistleblower Protection Act in an effort to strengthen statutory protections for federal employees
who assist in the elimination of fraud, waste, abuse, illegality, and corruption. That statute continued
the exemption for national security information. It did not authorize the disclosure of any
information by an agency or any person that is (1) specifically prohibited from disclosure by any
other provision of law, or (2) "specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in
the
interest of national defense or the conduct of foreign affairs."
Several statutes apply expressly to national security information. Congress has passed a series
of laws known collectively as the Military Whistleblowers Protection Act, under which members
of the military may give information to Members of Congress. It also passed the Intelligence
Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 to encourage the reporting to Congress of
wrongdoing within the intelligence agencies. In crafting this legislation, Congress has sought to
balance its need for information with national security requirements, giving intelligence community
whistleblowers access to Congress only through the intelligence committees. For legal analysis see
CRS Report 97-787, Whistleblower Protections for Federal Employees , by L. Paige Whitaker
and
Michael Schmerling.
This report will be updated as events warrant.
