National Security Whistleblowers

"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." Source: U.S. Congressional Research Service

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