House Bill Lays Out New Whistleblower Protections for Contractors

Last week, a group of House members led by Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), introduced bipartisan legislation to extend the whistleblower protections currently afforded contractors, grant recipients and subcontractors, to subgrantees and personal services contractors.  The House legislation, named the (H.R. 5920), would also make the temporary civilian whistleblowing programs permanent. 

H.R. 5920 is the House counterpart to Senate bill S. 795 – introduced by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in March 2015 – and the latest of a steady stream of measures geared towards protecting whistleblowers.