Grassley bills to fight waste, fraud and abuse advance to president’s desk

Measures led by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to promote government accountability, cut waste and protect whistleblowers will advance to the president’s desk to be signed into law after recent congressional approval.

Congress has approved Grassley’s Inspector General Empowerment Act, FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and Administrative Leave Act.

“A government for the people must be accountable to the people,” Grassley said. “But all too often, the federal bureaucracy falls short, leaving taxpayers underserved and overcharged. Government watchdogs and whistleblowers are critical to identifying fraud, waste and misconduct, and restoring the accountability taxpayers deserve.”

The Inspector General Empowerment Act would address a Department of Justice legal opinion that has enabled agencies to withhold documents from the scrutiny of inspectors general. The bipartisan measure would guarantee their access to all records of the agencies they oversee and equip independent investigators with additional tools to root out waste.

“Congress’ approval of these bills will not only empower watchdogs and whistleblowers, it will also help cut waste and encourage greater accountability,” Grassley said. “The president should now sign these bills into law to improve the government for the people it serves.”

The FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act would ensure that FBI employees have access to legal protections afforded to other government whistleblowers. FBI employees are not currently protected from retribution when disclosing wrongdoing to their direct supervisors.

Finally, the Administrative Leave Act would prevent federal employees from being placed on administrative leave for months at a time. The bill would reduce maximum administrative leave from one year to 10 days, create new types of administrative leave and require executive agencies to maintain records on the use of extended paid leave.

Grassley introduced the Administrative Leave Act after a U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that between 2011 and 2013, a total of 57,000 employees had been put on paid administrative leave for a month or more. Agencies spent a total of $3.1 billion on paid administrative leave during that time.