NWC's Seven Major Campaigns of 2025

Take action today to strengthen critical whistleblower laws and protect them from attack!

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Since the founding days of this country, America has recognized the power that whistleblowers hold in the fight against fraud, waste, and abuse. The U.S. boasts some of the strongest whistleblower protections in the world, which is why so many international whistleblowers flock to our system for protection and compensation. But our job is far from over. In order to fully protect whistleblowers, we must strengthen whistleblower laws, close existing loopholes in whistleblower legislation, ensure Congressionally mandated awards are being paid out in a timely manner, and create new whistleblower protections for burgeoning sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence.

National Whistleblower Center has laid out Seven Major Campaigns for 2025, each of which are essential to safeguarding whistleblowers across America’s workforce. This year, we are leveraging the power of our grassroots supporter base to enact necessary changes in our whistleblower legislative framework. Please consider taking action on these campaigns, contacting your Representatives and Senators, and bolstering your advocacy by donating to NWC to support our advocacy.

Take Action On Our Seven Campaigns!

(1) Fully Implement the AML and Sanctions Whistleblower Program.

The Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Act was passed in 2021, with a subsequent AML Whistleblower Improvement Act being passed in 2022. This established the AML and Sanctions Whistleblower Program, administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Four years after the passage of the AML Whistleblower Act, FinCEN still has not fully implemented the program, leaving countless whistleblowers waiting years for their Congressionally mandated awards. The delay in implementing the program is unacceptable and a severe injustice to whistleblowers. We demand that in 2025, FinCEN fully implement the AML and Sanctions Whistleblower Program.

(2) Strengthen the False Claims Act and Protect its qui tam provision from attack.

The False Claims Act is our most powerful anti-corruption law, underpinning massively successful whistleblower programs such as the SEC Whistleblower Program and the CFTC Whistleblower Program. Since its inception, the FCA has recouped over $70 Billion in fraudulently stolen and levied countless billions in criminal penalties. The FCA has stopped Medicare and Medicaid fraud, government contracting fraud, and more in its tracks by allowing everyday citizens to bring forth whistleblower claims on behalf of the government in qui tam suits. Two laws that would strengthen this powerful anti-corruption tool have been languishing in Congress, the Administrative False Claims Act, and the False Claims Act Amendment, which would prevent federal contractors from colluding with government officials and allow the federal government to administratively sanction contractors in smaller cases. It is beyond time that these two laws, which enjoy bipartisan support, are passed into law.

Secondly, we must protect the qui tam provision from judicial attack. For over 160 years, the Constitutionality of the provision has been upheld by courts across the country. Recently, a District Court in Florida ruled the provision to be in violation of the Appointments Clause in the Constitution. We must urge our Representatives and Senators to take a stand for the FCA and the Constitutionality of America’s most effective anti-corruption tool.

(3) Demand Protections for Artificial Intelligence Whistleblowers.

As social media companies emerged as major players in media consumption and communication tools, Congress sat back, failing to implement an oversight structure that would protect the public interest and delaying the implementation of whistleblower protections for employees in the sector.

Now, having grown unfettered by meaningful regulation, social media companies flaunt massive financial backing and lobbying power in Washington. Meta, for example, employs 66 lobbyists — one for every eight members of Congress, making it nearly impossible to regulate the industry. We cannot make the same mistake with Artificial Intelligence whistleblowers. The burgeoning sector holds unmatched implications for Americans’ privacy and data security.

As AI companies compete and race to develop the next big product or groundbreaking technology, financial gain is pursued over the safety of the products released and unleashed on the public, superseding respect for Americans’ rights. We have already done a severe injustice for AI Whistleblowers who have spoken out against abuse of power and opaque business practices. The clock is ticking for Congress to create an AI Whistleblower Protection law. Demand that your Representatives and Senators work together to create bipartisan protections for AI Whistleblowers in the 118th Congress.

(4) Stop Repeal by Delay.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the SEC both fail to compensate whistleblowers in a timely manner. These delays, which the IRS admits average over 10-years, cause untold hardship to whistleblowers, many of whom have lost their jobs and careers, and their only hope for economic survival is the compensation promised under law. In response to these untenable and unjustifiable delays, Congress has introduced two laws to expedite paying legally required compensation to whistleblowers, the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act and 625, the IRS Whistleblower Reform Act. Both amendments have strong bipartisan support and should be/could be passed quickly.

In addition, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Office has suffered from a long-standing funding crisis which has delayed the payment of large whistleblower awards, leaving whistleblowers who are owed their awards out to dry for years. Stopgap solutions have been passed in 2021 and again in December of 2024, but these midnight hour solutions are not sustainable. The current band-aid solution is set to expire, once again, in March of 2025. Demand that Congress pass the CFTC Fund Improvement Act 2500, a permanent funding solution to the ongoing crisis.

(5) Close the Major Loophole in Airline Safety Whistleblower Law.

An oversight in the drafting of the Aviation Investment and Reform Act has created a loophole which excludes the courts from enforcing preliminary reinstatement for Airline whistleblowers. This means that airline companies who are ordered to reinstate a whistleblower could simply ignore the order without repercussion. As airline manufacturers such as Boeing continue to make headlines for safety non-compliance, in-air accidents, and whistleblower retaliation, it is imperative that we redress failures in airline whistleblower protections.

The Aviation Investment and Reform Act is copy-and-pasted in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), meaning this loophole has permeated through major whistleblower laws, causing enduring hardship for whistleblowers across sectors. We demand that this oversight is redressed through a technical amendment in during the 118th Congress to put an end to this loophole.

(6) Protect Federal Whistleblowers.

Federal whistleblowers are crucial to exposing abuse of power and corruption. They stand in an unmatched position to detect and report wrongdoing, making indispensable to safeguarding our democracy. Yet, federal whistleblowers are not afforded the same degree of protections as private sector whistleblowers. They are denied the right to file retaliation cases in federal court and are left to the mercy of appointed officials and administrative action.

We must allow federal whistleblowers to pursue their claims in federal court when they are faced with administrative inaction. We urge for the passage of the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure that federal whistleblowers can exercise their rights in federal court.

TAKE ACTION

(7) Make National Whistleblower Day Permanent.

National Whistleblower Day commemorates the nation’s first whistleblower law, which was unanimously signed into law during the height of the American Revolution on July 30th, 1778. Every year since 2013, the Senate has unanimously recognized July 30th as National Whistleblower Day, and every year since 2015, National Whistleblower Center has hosted the largest and most prestigious event to honor whistleblowers on Capitol Hill in July. Making National Whistleblower Day permanent is a longstanding campaign of NWC’s. This act would mandate that all federal agencies honor the day, provide whistleblower training to their employees, and celebrate the contributions that whistleblower have made to democracy and society.

TAKE ACTION

Support our Legislative Advocacy in 2025!

NWC is a grassroots organization that relies on the generosity of our supporters for all of our work. We need your help to continue this fight. Bolster your action and support our legislative advocacy by making a fully tax-deductible donation to NWC today!

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