H.R. 2988: Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act of 2021

Bill · 117th Congress (2021–2022). Passed House, 15 Sep 2022. Introduced 4 May 2021.

Official title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify and enhance protections for Federal Government whistleblowers, and for other purposes.

Vote results

How each member voted

House

Yea (221): Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-5); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9); Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR-4); Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-6); Richard E. Neal (D-MA-1); David E. Price (D-NC-4); Jim Cooper (D-TN-5); Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3); Maxine Waters (D-CA-43); Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10); Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2); James E. Clyburn (D-SC-6); Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA-18); Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30); Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12); Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40); Bobby L. Rush (D-IL-1); Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-3); Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-7); Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-2); Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-35); Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3); Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7); Diana DeGette (D-CO-1); Ron Kind (D-WI-3); James P. McGovern (D-MA-2); Brad Sherman (D-CA-30); Adam Smith (D-WA-9); Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5); Barbara Lee (D-CA-13); John B. Larson (D-CT-1); Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32); Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL-9); Mike Thompson (D-CA-5); James R. Langevin (D-RI-2); Rick Larsen (D-WA-2); Betty McCollum (D-MN-4); Adam B. Schiff (D-CA-28); Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-8); Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-3); C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2); Tim Ryan (D-OH-13); David Scott (D-GA-13); Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA-38); Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5); Jim Costa (D-CA-16); Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28); Al Green (D-TX-9); Brian Higgins (D-NY-26); Gwen Moore (D-WI-4); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-23); Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-6); Albio Sires (D-NJ-8); Kathy Castor (D-FL-14); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-9); Steve Cohen (D-TN-9); Joe Courtney (D-CT-2); Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-4); Jerry McNerney (D-CA-9); Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-7); John P. Sarbanes (D-MD-3); Peter Welch (D-VT-AL); John A. Yarmuth (D-KY-3); André Carson (D-IN-7); Jackie Speier (D-CA-14); Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11); James A. Himes (D-CT-4); Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1); Paul Tonko (D-NY-20); Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5); Mike Quigley (D-IL-5); Judy Chu (D-CA-27); John Garamendi (D-CA-3); Bill Foster (D-IL-11); Karen Bass (D-CA-37); David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1); William R. Keating (D-MA-9); Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7); Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL-24); Dina Titus (D-NV-1); Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-7); Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1); Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA-1); Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10); Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3); Ami Bera (D-CA-7); Julia Brownley (D-CA-26); Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17); Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8); Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29); Lois Frankel (D-FL-21); Jared Huffman (D-CA-2); Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY-8); Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI-5); Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6); Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-2); Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2); Alan S. Lowenthal (D-CA-47); Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18); Grace Meng (D-NY-6); Scott H. Peters (D-CA-52); Mark Pocan (D-WI-2); Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36); Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15); Mark Takano (D-CA-41); Juan Vargas (D-CA-51); Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33); Robin L. Kelly (D-IL-2); Katherine M. Clark (D-MA-5); Alma S. Adams (D-NC-12); Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1); Pete Aguilar (D-CA-31); Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA-8); Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA-2); Ed Case (D-HI-1); Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-11); Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7); Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI-14); Ted Lieu (D-CA-33); Seth Moulton (D-MA-6); Kathleen M. Rice (D-NY-4); Norma J. Torres (D-CA-35); Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12); Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL-10); Dwight Evans (D-PA-3); Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44); Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-AL); Anthony G. Brown (D-MD-4); Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA-24); J. Luis Correa (D-CA-46); Val Butler Demings (D-FL-10); Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13); Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1); Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15); Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5); Steven Horsford (D-NV-4); Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7); Ro Khanna (D-CA-17); Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8); Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL-5); Stephanie N. Murphy (D-FL-7); Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-1); Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20); Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8); Darren Soto (D-FL-9); Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY-3); Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34); Conor Lamb (D-PA-17); Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY-25); Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5); Susan Wild (D-PA-7); Colin Z. Allred (D-TX-32); Cynthia Axne (D-IA-3); Sean Casten (D-IL-6); Angie Craig (D-MN-2); Jason Crow (D-CO-6); Sharice Davids (D-KS-3); Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4); Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16); Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7); Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29); Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-4); Jared F. Golden (D-ME-2); Josh Harder (D-CA-10); Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5); Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6); Andy Kim (D-NJ-3); Susie Lee (D-NV-3); Andy Levin (D-MI-9); Mike Levin (D-CA-49); Elaine G. Luria (D-VA-2); Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-7); Lucy McBath (D-GA-6); Joe Neguse (D-CO-2); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14); Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5); Chris Pappas (D-NH-1); Dean Phillips (D-MN-3); Katie Porter (D-CA-45); Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7); Kim Schrier (D-WA-8); Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11); Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-8); Abigail Davis Spanberger (D-VA-7); Greg Stanton (D-AZ-9); Haley M. Stevens (D-MI-11); Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13); Lori Trahan (D-MA-3); David J. Trone (D-MD-6); Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14); Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-4); Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA-7); Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16); Cori Bush (D-MO-1); Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53); Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17); Kaiali’i Kahele (D-HI-2); Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3); Nancy Mace (R-SC-1); Kathy E. Manning (D-NC-6); Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN-1); Marie Newman (D-IL-3); Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2); Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10); Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15); Nikema Williams (D-GA-5); Troy A. Carter (D-LA-2); Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1); Shontel M. Brown (D-OH-11); Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20); Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK-AL); Patrick Ryan (D-NY-19); Michael F. Doyle (D-PA-18); G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1); Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL-22); A. Donald McEachin (D-VA-4).

Nay (203): Harold Rogers (R-KY-5); Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ-4); Fred Upton (R-MI-6); Ken Calvert (R-CA-42); Frank D. Lucas (R-OK-3); Steve Chabot (R-OH-1); Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4); Kevin Brady (R-TX-8); Kay Granger (R-TX-12); Michael K. Simpson (R-ID-2); Pete Sessions (R-TX-17); Sam Graves (R-MO-6); Joe Wilson (R-SC-2); Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26); John R. Carter (R-TX-31); Tom Cole (R-OK-4); Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25); Mike Rogers (R-AL-3); Michael R. Turner (R-OH-10); Darrell Issa (R-CA-50); Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5); Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1); Michael T. McCaul (R-TX-10); Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC-10); Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL-12); Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16); Jim Jordan (R-OH-4); Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5); Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23); Adrian Smith (R-NE-3); Robert E. Latta (R-OH-5); Robert J. Wittman (R-VA-1); Steve Scalise (R-LA-1); Tim Walberg (R-MI-7); Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2); Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-3); Tom McClintock (R-CA-4); Bill Posey (R-FL-8); Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15); Mo Brooks (R-AL-5); Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8); Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR-1); Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4); Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3); Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN-3); Bob Gibbs (R-OH-7); Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ-4); H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9); Andy Harris (R-MD-1); Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4); Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3); Bill Huizenga (R-MI-2); Bill Johnson (R-OH-6); Mike Kelly (R-PA-16); Billy Long (R-MO-7); David B. McKinley (R-WV-1); Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS-4); David Schweikert (R-AZ-6); Austin Scott (R-GA-8); Daniel Webster (R-FL-11); Steve Womack (R-AR-3); Mark E. Amodei (R-NV-2); Thomas Massie (R-KY-4); Andy Barr (R-KY-6); Rodney Davis (R-IL-13); Richard Hudson (R-NC-8); David P. Joyce (R-OH-14); Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1); Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2); Scott Perry (R-PA-10); Tom Rice (R-SC-7); Chris Stewart (R-UT-2); Ann Wagner (R-MO-2); Randy K. Weber, Sr. (R-TX-14); Brad R. Wenstrup (R-OH-2); Jason Smith (R-MO-8); Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12); Brian Babin (R-TX-36); Mike Bost (R-IL-12); Ken Buck (R-CO-4); Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1); Tom Emmer (R-MN-6); Garret Graves (R-LA-6); Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6); Jody B. Hice (R-GA-10); J. French Hill (R-AR-2); John Katko (R-NY-24); Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11); John R. Moolenaar (R-MI-4); Alexander X. Mooney (R-WV-2); Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4); Gary J. Palmer (R-AL-6); David Rouzer (R-NC-7); Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY-21); Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4); Lee M. Zeldin (R-NY-1); David G. Valadao (R-CA-21); Trent Kelly (R-MS-1); Darin LaHood (R-IL-18); Warren Davidson (R-OH-8); James Comer (R-KY-1); Jodey C. Arrington (R-TX-19); Don Bacon (R-NE-2); Jim Banks (R-IN-3); Jack Bergman (R-MI-1); Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5); Neal P. Dunn (R-FL-2); A. Drew Ferguson IV (R-GA-3); Matt Gaetz (R-FL-1); Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8); Clay Higgins (R-LA-3); Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN-9); Mike Johnson (R-LA-4); David Kustoff (R-TN-8); Brian J. Mast (R-FL-18); John H. Rutherford (R-FL-4); Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11); Ron Estes (R-KS-4); Ralph Norman (R-SC-5); John R. Curtis (R-UT-3); Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8); Michael Cloud (R-TX-27); Troy Balderson (R-OH-12); Kevin Hern (R-OK-1); Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-AL); James R. Baird (R-IN-4); Tim Burchett (R-TN-2); Ben Cline (R-VA-6); Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2); Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16); Lance Gooden (R-TX-5); Mark E. Green (R-TN-7); Michael Guest (R-MS-3); Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL); John Joyce (R-PA-13); Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9); Carol D. Miller (R-WV-3); Greg Pence (R-IN-6); Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14); John W. Rose (R-TN-6); Chip Roy (R-TX-21); Pete Stauber (R-MN-8); Bryan Steil (R-WI-1); W. Gregory Steube (R-FL-17); Van Taylor (R-TX-3); William R. Timmons IV (R-SC-4); Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ-2); Michael Waltz (R-FL-6); Claudia Tenney (R-NY-22); Fred Keller (R-PA-12); Dan Bishop (R-NC-9); Mike Garcia (R-CA-25); Thomas P. Tiffany (R-WI-7); Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27); Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2); Stephanie I. Bice (R-OK-5); Lauren Boebert (R-CO-3); Kat Cammack (R-FL-3); Jerry L. Carl (R-AL-1); Madison Cawthorn (R-NC-11); Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9); Byron Donalds (R-FL-19); Pat Fallon (R-TX-4); Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4); Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7); Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-5); Scott Franklin (R-FL-15); Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-2); Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL-26); Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23); Bob Good (R-VA-5); Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14); Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1); Yvette Herrell (R-NM-2); Ashley Hinson (R-IA-1); Ronny Jackson (R-TX-13); Young Kim (R-CA-39); Jake LaTurner (R-KS-2); Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11); Tracey Mann (R-KS-1); Lisa C. McClain (R-MI-10); Peter Meijer (R-MI-3); Mary E. Miller (R-IL-15); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2); Barry Moore (R-AL-2); Blake D. Moore (R-UT-1); Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22); Jay Obernolte (R-CA-8); Burgess Owens (R-UT-4); August Pfluger (R-TX-11); Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT-AL); Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27); Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5); Michelle Steel (R-CA-48); Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24); Julia Letlow (R-LA-5); Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6); Mike Carey (R-OH-15); Connie Conway (R-CA-22); Mayra Flores (R-TX-34); Mike Flood (R-NE-1); Brad Finstad (R-MN-1); Joseph Sempolinski (R-NY-23).

Not voting (8): Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-9); Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5); Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16); Roger Williams (R-TX-25); Ted Budd (R-NC-13); Liz Cheney (R-WY-AL); Russ Fulcher (R-ID-1); Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC-3).

Speaker, not listed (1): Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12).

Not in office (16): Rudy Yakym III (R-IN-2); Don Young (R-AK-AL); Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL-20); Devin Nunes (R-CA-22); Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1); Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH-11); Tom Reed (R-NY-23); Steve Stivers (R-OH-15); Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-2); Jackie Walorski (R-IN-2); Filemon Vela (D-TX-34); Charlie Crist (D-FL-13); Antonio Delgado (D-NY-19); Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1); Debra A. Haaland (D-NM-1); Ron Wright (R-TX-6).

Summary

Main subject: 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. Sec. 2, Sec. 3, Sec. 4, Sec. 5, Sec. 7

Its 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.

Unexpected Items: 2 provisions

These provisions fall outside the bill’s main subject or apply narrowly. This describes the text; it is not a judgment.

Exception or delay for a subset (2)

What it does

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 15 Oct 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.

Sources