House approves Duffy bill offering whistleblower protection

Bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) to extend whistleblower protections to federal employees following rules and regulations cleared the House this week with bipartisan support.

The Follow the Rules Act, H.R. 6186, introduced by Duffy and U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), would protect federal employees who refuse to violate rules and regulations passed by Congress from retaliation or punishment.

The legislation followed a federal court’s decision that the Whistleblower Protection Act protects federal workers from employment retaliation for refusing to violate federal laws, but that those safeguards don’t apply to federal employees who refuse to violate rules and regulations.

“The court ruling will take away whistleblowers’ protections when they stand up to bad actors in the federal workforce,” Duffy said. “In effect, this ruling will give permission to supervisors in positions of authority to force federal workers to violate the rules and regulations that Congress, through law, directs the agencies to implement.”

Regardless of personal opinions of certain rules and regulations, Duffy added, “We should not leave exposed federal workers who simply want to follow them.”

The Follow the Rules Act essentially would close a loophole that undermines whistleblower protections for federal employees, Connolly said.

For example, under current law, federal employees who are told by their supervisor to violate North Korean sanctions, for example, have no whistleblower protections. The Follow the Rules Act would fix that, the lawmakers said.