While Fear of Retaliation Is Alive and Well, Bush Administration Puts Kibosh on Whistleblower Protections
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The Washington Post reported yesterday on a new study from the Ethics Resource Center which offers up a rare glimpse into how often government employees witnessed misconduct and what they did about it. According to the report, "Just over half of federal employees observed misconduct in the past year. In the past twelve months, 52 percent of federal government employees observed at least one type of misconduct. Of this 52 percent of employees, 70 percent observed more than one type of misconduct."

In addition, "Many of those who reported the misconduct they observed were retaliated against. This is troubling on two fronts: reporters are punished for their responsible, courageous decision at the same time that future reporting is discouraged.

More than one out of ten (11 percent) of federal government employees who reported their observations of misconduct have experienced retaliation as a result of their reports.
Almost a quarter (24 percent) of federal government employees who observed misconduct but chose not to report it feared retaliation from management.
Also, 16 percent of non-reporters within the federal government feared retaliation from their peers."
These findings aren't terribly surprising, given the frayed state of affairs when it comes to protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. Still, the Executive Branch continues to object to whistleblower protections.

Earlier this week, President Bush issued his most recent Presidential signing statement in which he unilaterally notified the Congress that he wouldn't necessarily implement several provisions of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, including one supported by POGO which provides whistleblower protections for defense contractors. According to President Bush's signing statement:

Provisions of the Act, including sections 841, 846 (the provision protecting contractor whistleblowers), 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.

Also yesterday, whistleblower champion Senator Charles Grassley chastised members of the Administration who have objected to whistleblower protection legislation during a hearing with Attorney General Mukasey:

One of the most difficult issues in whistleblowing is that of national security whistleblowers. These individuals have security clearances that prevent the disclosure of our Nation's closest held secrets. I understand that a security clearance is a privilege and not a right.

However, individuals with security clearances who witness wrongdoing often face a catch-22. They can either report the wrongdoing to supervisors who may retaliate against them, or they can sit silent and let the wrongdoing continue. Either situation is unacceptable.

As a solution, the Senate unanimously passed S.274, the Federal Employee Protection Act of 2007. This bill attempts to strike a balance. It allows individuals who know of wrongdoing in classified matters to come forward and report that wrongdoing to Congress. BUT, it only allows disclosure to specific persons cleared to hear classified information.

This bi-partisan legislation would ensure that national security information remains secret, while allowing Congress to conduct oversight required under the Constitution.

On January 22, 2008, you along with Director of National Intelligence McConnell, Secretary Gates, and Secretary Chertoff, signed a letter objecting to S.274. I am concerned by statements in this letter which claim that secure reporting mechanisms for whistleblowers are somehow unconstitutional or jeopardize national security. While I agree that this information needs to be secure, Congress must be able to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch on matters involving National Security.

While both the House and Senate have passed whistleblower protection legislation with veto-proof majorities, the different bills still need to be reconciled and sent to the President to sign. Of course, once it reaches his desk, we can only speculate about what overreaching interpretations he'll choose to include in his signing statement for that law.

-- Beth Daley

Study Finds Government Ethics Lapses
Many Workers Say They Don't Report Common Violations
By Christopher Lee, Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 30, 2008; A13
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The Enron scandal of 2001 set off a tidal wave of concern about corruption and unethical behavior across corporate America, but a new survey shows that government agencies are not free of such behavior.

The study, released yesterday by the nonprofit Ethics Resource Center, found that nearly 60 percent of government employees at all levels -- federal, state and local -- had witnessed violations of ethical standards, policy or laws in their workplaces within the last year.

Observed misconduct was lowest at the federal level, with 52 percent of federal workers surveyed saying they had witnessed problems such as conflicts of interest, abusive behavior, alterations of documents and financial records and lying to employees, vendors or the public within the last year.

"Since Enron, policymakers have given a great deal of attention and emphasis to the need for the business sector to address their ethics issues," said Patricia J. Harned, president of the group. "But in reality, government has their own issues to address, as well."

What is at stake is government's ability to keep the public trust, Harned said.

The group analyzed data taken from a telephone survey conducted last summer that included 3,452 employees in the business, government and nonprofit sectors. Analysts culled responses from 774 government employees but did not identify participants by agency. The survey's margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Among the findings:

* Thirty percent of federal workers and 14 percent of state and local government workers believe their organizations have well-implemented ethics and compliance programs;

* The misconduct most frequently observed by federal employees was abusive behavior (witnessed by 23 percent), safety violations (21 percent), lying to employees (20 percent) and putting one's own interests ahead of the organization's ( 20 percent);

* Fifty-eight percent of all government workers who saw misconduct did not report it because they did not believe managers would take action, and 30 percent of all workers feared they would face retaliation if they reported what they saw. One percent used anonymous hotlines.

Not all of the survey findings were discouraging.

The group found that, compared with a previous survey in 2000, there were declines in several overtly illegal types of misconduct, including stealing, bribes, sexual harassment and discrimination. Moreover, the survey found that in government organizations with well-implemented ethics programs and strong ethical culture, misconduct fell by 60 percent, and the reporting of bad behavior increased by 40 percent.

But the data showed that fraud occurred as frequently in government as in the private sector, with comparable rates of alteration of documents, misreporting of hours worked and lying to customers, the public and workers.

For 30 years, the federal government has had an agency, the Office of Government Ethics, that provides political appointees and employees with advisory opinions and training materials. It ensures that each agency has an ethics officer and helps resolve conflicts of interest.

Ethical issues have become increasingly important, "if for no other reason than the fact that the [federal] government has become increasingly reliant on contracting and grants to independent suppliers, who are providing the government with an increasing range of goods and services," said Kenneth Ryder, a project director at the National Academy of Public Administration. "That puts a premium on having an effective ethics program."