{"format":1,"id":"117-hr-2988","congress":117,"number":"H.R. 2988","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","official_title":"To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify and enhance protections for Federal Government whistleblowers, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify and enhance protections for Federal Government whistleblowers, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to House","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021"}],"outcome":"passed_house","law_number":null,"introduced":"2021-05-04","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2022-09-15","vote":{"id":"117-2022-h437","question":"On Passage","title":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act","result":"Passed","yea":221,"nay":203,"present":0,"not_voting":8,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2022/roll437.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"na","date":null,"vote":null}},"president":{"status":"na","date":null},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.","date":"2022-09-19"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[{"number":"H.Amdt. 314","sponsor":"Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12]","purpose":"Amendments en bloc comprised of amendments numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4, printed in Part C of House Report 117-464.","result":"Agreed to","date":"2022-09-15","yea":224,"nay":206,"present":0,"not_voting":8,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2022/roll436.xml"}],"other_votes":[{"chamber":"house","date":"2022-09-15","question":"On Agreeing to the Amendment","title":"","result":"Agreed to","yea":224,"nay":206,"present":0,"not_voting":8,"kind":"amendment","source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2022/roll436.xml"}],"crs_summary":{"date":"2022-09-15","stage":"Passed House","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021"},{"k":"p","t":"This bill establishes, modifies, and expands certain whistleblower protections for federal employees, including with respect to petitions to Congress, whistleblower identity, and protected disclosures."},{"k":"p","t":"For example, the bill prohibits personnel action against employees who exercise their right to petition or furnish information to Congress and specifically precludes the President, Members of Congress, members of the uniformed services, and other federal employees from interfering with this right. It also generally prohibits employees from disclosing the identity of whistleblowers to individuals outside of the government and allows the Inspector General to determine whether to investigate a referral if the referral is found to have been made in retaliation for whistleblowing activity. Employees may request corrective action from the Merit Systems Protection Board with respect to such prohibited practices and may file an action in court if the board does not render a final decision within 180 days of a request."},{"k":"p","t":"The bill also expands the list of recipients to whom an employee may make a protected disclosure to include a supervisor in the employee's direct chain of command. It also includes personnel actions involving furloughs of more than 14 days but less than 30 days, and furloughs of 13 days or less that are not due to funding lapses, as appealable adverse actions that are subject to certain procedural requirements."}],"words":224},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Amends title 5 of the United States Code to change protections for Federal Government employees who make whistleblower disclosures or petition Congress, and the procedures for seeking relief.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H4945D3D0B22447769AA820ADB3663B22"},{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H05E865A6EC714316A73CBC862321C71E"},{"label":"Sec. 4","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H2B3B0575A8CC4532B432378F024E619C"},{"label":"Sec. 5","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#HF205D9DD9ECD4997BA7240C3E335F4D9"},{"label":"Sec. 7","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H9061B5DACFBC437AAB83CBB007C35F81"}]},"core_areas":["Whistleblower retaliation and personnel actions","Federal employees' right to petition and furnish information to Congress","Confidentiality of whistleblower identity","Merit Systems Protection Board relief and court access","Furlough appeal rights","Inspector General anonymous reporting mechanisms"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Adds the commencement, expansion or extension of certain investigations, and certain referrals to an Inspector General, to the list of personnel actions covered by whistleblower protections.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H4945D3D0B22447769AA820ADB3663B22"}},{"text":"Bars an employee from willfully giving a person outside the Government the identity of, or personally identifiable information about, another employee because of a protected whistleblower disclosure, with four listed exceptions.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H4945D3D0B22447769AA820ADB3663B22"}},{"text":"Rewrites section 7211 of title 5 so that each officer or employee of the Federal Government has a right to petition Congress, furnish information to it, and respond to its requests, and may not be interfered with in exercising that right.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H4945D3D0B22447769AA820ADB3663B22"}},{"text":"Allows an employee whose corrective action request has received no final Merit Systems Protection Board decision within 180 days to bring a de novo action in United States district court, tried before a jury at either party's request.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H05E865A6EC714316A73CBC862321C71E"}},{"text":"Treats a furlough of more than 14 days but less than 30 days, and a furlough of 13 days or less not due to a lapse in appropriations, as actions covered by section 7512 of title 5.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 4","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H2B3B0575A8CC4532B432378F024E619C"}},{"text":"Requires the Inspector General of each Federal agency and designated Federal entity to establish, within 90 days of enactment, a mechanism for receiving anonymous whistleblower information that does not use computer or telephone systems.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 7","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H9061B5DACFBC437AAB83CBB007C35F81"}}],"unexpected":[{"category":"selective_carve_out","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H05E865A6EC714316A73CBC862321C71E"},"heading":"Enhancement of whistleblower protections","effect":"Extends whistleblower protections to Public Health Service and NOAA commissioned officers, but the NOAA application rule does not apply to personnel actions already covered by a section 1034 of title 10 complaint with a final decision.","amount":null,"quote":"Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any personnel action with respect to which a complaint has been filed pursuant to section 1034 of title 10, United States Code"},{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 4","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh#H2B3B0575A8CC4532B432378F024E619C"},"heading":"Classifying certain furloughs as adverse personnel actions","effect":"Makes furloughs of more than 14 days but less than 30 days, and furloughs of 13 days or less not due to a lapse in appropriations, adverse personnel actions; furloughs of 13 days or less due to a lapse in appropriations are not listed.","amount":null,"quote":"a furlough of 13 days or less that is not due to a lapse in appropriations;"}]}],"version":{"type":"Engrossed in House","date":"2022-09-15","rule":"passed","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text/eh"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-15","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2988/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/117-hr-2988.png","v":"faebe3053e90","alt":"Votes on Record. H.R. 2988, 117th Congress: Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021. House: 221 Yea, 203 Nay. Outcome: Passed House, 15 Sep 2022."}}