Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1154 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1154
5	5	To provide protections for employees of, former employees of, and applicants
6	6	for employment with Federal agencies, contractors, and grantees whose
7	7	right to petition or furnish information to Congress is interfered with
8	8	or denied.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	MARCH26, 2025
11	11	Mr. B
12	12	LUMENTHAL(for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY,
13	13	Mr. S
14	14	ANDERS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and
15	15	Mr. W
16	16	YDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re-
17	17	ferred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To provide protections for employees of, former employees
20	20	of, and applicants for employment with Federal agencies,
21	21	contractors, and grantees whose right to petition or fur-
22	22	nish information to Congress is interfered with or denied.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
26	26	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Whistle-4
27	27	blower Protection Act of 2025’’. 5
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30	30	•S 1154 IS
31	31	SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS FOR COVERED INDIVIDUALS. 1
32	32	Section 7211 of title 5, United States Code, is 2
33	33	amended— 3
34	34	(1) by striking ‘‘The right of employees’’ and 4
35	35	inserting the following: 5
36	36	‘‘(a) I
37	37	NGENERAL.—The right of covered individ-6
38	38	uals’’; and 7
39	39	(2) by adding at the end the following: 8
40	40	‘‘(b) R
41	41	EMEDIES.— 9
42	42	‘‘(1) A
43	43	DMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES .— 10
44	44	‘‘(A) I
45	45	N GENERAL.—A covered individual 11
46	46	with respect to a Federal agency (other than a 12
47	47	covered individual described in subparagraph 13
48	48	(B), (C), or (D)) who is aggrieved by a violation 14
49	49	of subsection (a) may seek corrective action 15
50	50	under sections 1214 and 1221 in the same 16
51	51	manner as an individual who is aggrieved by a 17
52	52	prohibited personnel practice described in sec-18
53	53	tion 2302(b)(8). 19
54	54	‘‘(B) FBI
55	55	EMPLOYEES.—A covered indi-20
56	56	vidual with respect to the Federal Bureau of 21
57	57	Investigation who is aggrieved by a violation of 22
58	58	subsection (a) may seek corrective action under 23
59	59	section 2303. 24
60	60	‘‘(C) I
61	61	NTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY EMPLOY -25
62	62	EES.—A covered individual with respect to a 26
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65	65	•S 1154 IS
66	66	covered intelligence community element (as de-1
67	67	fined in section 1104(a) of the National Secu-2
68	68	rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234(a))) who is 3
69	69	aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may 4
70	70	seek corrective action under section 1104 of the 5
71	71	National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 6
72	72	3234) or subsection (b)(7) or (j) of section 7
73	73	3001 of that Act (50 U.S.C. 3341). 8
74	74	‘‘(D) C
75	75	ONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES .—A cov-9
76	76	ered individual with respect to a Federal agency 10
77	77	who is an employee of, former employee of, or 11
78	78	applicant for employment with, a contractor, 12
79	79	subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or personal 13
80	80	services contractor (as those terms are used in 14
81	81	section 4701 of title 10 and section 4712 of 15
82	82	title 41) of the agency and who is aggrieved by 16
83	83	a violation of subsection (a) of this section may 17
84	84	seek corrective action under section 4701 of 18
85	85	title 10 or section 4712 of title 41. 19
86	86	‘‘(E) B
87	87	URDEN OF PROOF.—The burdens of 20
88	88	proof under subsection (e) of section 1221 shall 21
89	89	apply to an allegation of a violation of sub-22
90	90	section (a) of this section made under subpara-23
91	91	graph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this paragraph 24
92	92	in the same manner as those burdens of proof 25
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95	95	•S 1154 IS
96	96	apply to an allegation of a prohibited personnel 1
97	97	practice under such section 1221. 2
98	98	‘‘(F) C
99	99	LASS OF INDIVIDUALS ENTITLED TO 3
100	100	SEEK CORRECTIVE ACTION .—The right to seek 4
101	101	corrective action under subparagraph (A), (B), 5
102	102	(C), or (D) shall apply to a covered individual 6
103	103	who is an employee of, former employee of, or 7
104	104	applicant for employment with, a Federal agen-8
105	105	cy described in the applicable subparagraph or 9
106	106	a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, sub-10
107	107	grantee, or personal services contractor (as 11
108	108	those terms are used in section 4701 of title 10 12
109	109	and section 4712 of title 41) of such a Federal 13
110	110	agency, notwithstanding the fact that a provi-14
111	111	sion of law referenced in the applicable sub-15
112	112	paragraph does not authorize one or more of 16
113	113	those types of covered individuals to seek cor-17
114	114	rective action. 18
115	115	‘‘(2) P
116	116	RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 19
117	117	‘‘(A) I
118	118	N GENERAL.—If a final decision pro-20
119	119	viding relief for a violation of subsection (a) al-21
120	120	leged under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) 22
121	121	of paragraph (1) of this subsection is not issued 23
122	122	within 180 days of the date on which the cov-24
123	123	ered individual seeks corrective action under the 25
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126	126	•S 1154 IS
127	127	applicable subparagraph and there is no show-1
128	128	ing that the delay is due to the bad faith of the 2
129	129	covered individual, or if a final decision results 3
130	130	in a denial of relief for a violation of subsection 4
131	131	(a) alleged by a covered individual under sub-5
132	132	paragraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph 6
133	133	(1) of this subsection, the covered individual 7
134	134	may bring an action at law or equity for de 8
135	135	novo review in the appropriate district court of 9
136	136	the United States, which shall have jurisdiction 10
137	137	over the action without regard to the amount in 11
138	138	controversy, for relief described in subpara-12
139	139	graph (B) of this paragraph. 13
140	140	‘‘(B) R
141	141	ELIEF.—Relief described in this 14
142	142	subparagraph is— 15
143	143	‘‘(i) the sum of 200 percent of the 16
144	144	amount of lost wages and 100 percent of 17
145	145	the amount of lost benefits, with interest; 18
146	146	‘‘(ii) reinstatement; 19
147	147	‘‘(iii) costs and attorney fees; 20
148	148	‘‘(iv) compensatory damages; 21
149	149	‘‘(v) equitable or injunctive relief; or 22
150	150	‘‘(vi) any other relief that the court 23
151	151	considers appropriate. 24
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154	154	•S 1154 IS
155	155	‘‘(C) JURY TRIAL.—An action brought 1
156	156	under subparagraph (A) shall, upon the request 2
157	157	of the covered individual, be tried by the court 3
158	158	with a jury. 4
159	159	‘‘(D) B
160	160	URDEN OF PROOF.—The burdens of 5
161	161	proof under subsection (e) of section 1221 shall 6
162	162	apply to an allegation of a violation of sub-7
163	163	section (a) of this section in an action brought 8
164	164	under this paragraph in the same manner as 9
165	165	those burdens of proof apply to an allegation of 10
166	166	a prohibited personnel practice under such sec-11
167	167	tion 1221. 12
168	168	‘‘(c) D
169	169	EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 13
170	170	‘‘(1) the term ‘covered individual’, with respect 14
171	171	to a Federal agency, means an employee of, former 15
172	172	employee of, or applicant for employment with— 16
173	173	‘‘(A) the agency; or 17
174	174	‘‘(B) a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, 18
175	175	subgrantee, or personal services contractor (as 19
176	176	those terms are used in section 4701 of title 10 20
177	177	and section 4712 of title 41) of the agency; and 21
178	178	‘‘(2) the term ‘Federal agency’ means an agen-22
179	179	cy, office, or other establishment in the executive, 23
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182	182	•S 1154 IS
183	183	legislative, or judicial branch of the Federal Govern-1
184	184	ment.’’. 2
185	185	Æ
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