WASHINGTON, D.C. | January 3rd, 2025 — For years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Office has grappled with a funding crisis as a direct result of the program’s resounding success. When Congress implemented the program in 2010, they placed a $100 million cap on the Fund used to support the Office’s operational expenses and whistleblower award payouts made through the program. As the CFTC Whistleblower Program saw exponentially increasing whistleblower intakes and award payouts, the program suffered from a funding deficit.
In 2021, Congress passed an emergency stopgap measure to keep the office afloat, designating a separate fund to support the Office’s operations. When that solution expired, and the Office once again faced financial collapse, we called on our supporters to urge Congress to pass another emergency solution. Over 1,400 of our supporters took a stand with us, sending over 6,000 letters to Senators, Representatives, and the White House to demand that the emergency funding solution for the CFTC Whistleblower Office be included in the December Continuing Resolution. Our voices were heard, and Congress did just that.
However, this emergency funding is set to expire again on March 14th, 2025. These midnight hour funding solutions are not sustainable, and the CFTC Whistleblower Office needs a permanent funding solution. Since the program’s inception in 2010, the Office has recouped over $3.2 billion in fraudulent and criminal activity. In 2021, the Office’s operation budget came to just $3 million while it raked in over $3 billion in sanctions from whistleblower disclosures. We cannot continue to allow the program to suffer as a result of its own success.
Join us in urging for the passage of the CFTC Whistleblower Fund Improvement Act of 2023. This bipartisan bill will increase the program’s cap from $100 to $300 million, permanently averting this recurring funding crisis. National Whistleblower Center would like to extend its sincere gratitude to our supporters who have been indispensable in this effort. Consider taking action with us once again.
NWC Executive Director Siri Turner is available for comment. For more information, contact NWC at info@whistleblowers.org.
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NWC is the leading nonprofit working with whistleblowers worldwide to fight corruption and protect people and the environment. For over 30 years, NWC has won policies to protect whistleblowers from retaliation and reward them for helping deliver criminal and civil penalties against wrongdoers.
