Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, HOUSE NEWS—U.S. Reps express support in preservation of transparency, accountability amid second Trump administration, (Jan 24, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The letters discuss retaliation by the administration against accountability officials and other whistleblowers.

U.S. Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and committee Democrats sent letters to Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger and Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware. In the letters, the representatives offered their support in the preservation of transparency, accountability, and independence within the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Inspectors General (IG) community.

Dellinger letter. The letter to Dellinger explains the importance of protecting whistleblowers and states, “During his last term, President Trump investigated, publicly attacked, and stripped key protections away from whistleblowers who felt it was their patriotic duty to stand up against abuses of power.” The letter cites the examples of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman of the National Security Council, who informed lawmakers of presidential misconduct during the 2019 impeachment hearings, and former Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Michael Atkinson, who informed Congress of the initial whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry. According to the letter, independent inspectors general also found that, during the first Trump administration, multiple federal agencies undermined the ability of whistleblowers to disclose waste, fraud, and abuse through intimidation and widespread use of nondisclosure agreements.

The letter argues, “These sorts of systemic attacks on whistleblowers threaten to chill reporting of wrongdoing and make it more difficult for OSC and others to ensure that any waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government is identified and corrected.” The first Trump administration also saw rampant abuse of the Hatch Act, which ensures that the federal government is administered in a nonpartisan manner and that federal employees are protected from political coercion in the workplace, the letter explains. As the OSC is the independent agency responsible for investigating allegations of Hatch Act violations and recommending corrective and disciplinary action, the letter argues that the OSC must ensure officials in the next Trump administration do not use their powerful positions for electoral gain instead of public service.

Ware letter. The letter to Ware expresses the representatives’ support of the mission of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) to aid in the establishment and maintenance of a professional, well-trained, and highly skilled workforce in the Offices of Inspectors General. During the first Trump administration, the president removed inspectors general who he found to be inconvenient or who exposed his own abuses of power, the letter explains. When appointing new IGs, President Trump often left positions vacant or picked political appointees who already worked in the agency in question, creating clear conflicts of interest. The representatives encouraged CIGIE to continue to review and recommend independent and qualified IG candidates to the White House to assist in filling vacancies, which the first Trump administration struggled to do.

“CIGIE’s work to ensure that IGs are accountable to the federal employees they supervise, the agencies they oversee, and ultimately the American taxpayers is essential to a functional, accountable, democratic government,” the letter states. “This is of particular relevance when the presidential administration in power is hostile to federal oversight and the independence of IGs.”

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