Hawkeye Reporter

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced at the National Whistleblower Day event on Capitol Hill that he has helped reinstate FBI whistleblower Michael DeBey’s security clearance and employment with the agency. This marks the sixth time this year that Grassley has successfully assisted a whistleblower in regaining their position.

Grassley, who serves as co-founder and co-chair of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, delivered a keynote address emphasizing his ongoing efforts to support whistleblowers across federal agencies. He highlighted his history of working with individuals such as Ernie Fitzgerald, who was dismissed in 1968 for exposing waste and fraud in Defense Department contracts, and discussed legislative achievements like the False Claims Amendment Act of 1986. According to Grassley, this law has enabled the government to recover over $78 billion lost to fraud.

During his remarks, Grassley stated: “It’s an honor to be among patriots here today.

Today, nobody will be treated like a skunk at a picnic.

Whistleblowers too often get the short end of the stick for simply telling the truth.

Instead, whistleblowers ought to be recognized for what they are: patriots and the government’s most powerful tool to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

So, I’m proud to have introduced the National Whistleblower Appreciation Day resolution for the 12th year in a row.

Throughout my career, I’ve fought for whistleblowers.

I’m committed to ensuring that federal agencies treat whistleblowers fairly and are held accountable for retaliating against them.

That goes for both Republican and Democratic administrations.

When I first was elected to the Senate in 1981, I worked with brave whistleblowers like Ernie Fitzgerald.

Ernie was fired in 1968 by President Nixon for blowing the whistle on waste and fraud in Defense Department contracts.

I worked to pass laws to eliminate fraud that whistleblowers like Ernie told me about.

Now, because of this work, I passed the False Claims Amendment Act in 1986.

It’s helped recover more than $78 billion in fraud so far, and prevented countless billions more.

My “anti-gag” provision also became law. It’s an important sword and shield to protect whistleblowers.

Far too often, federal agencies tried to silence or intimidate whistleblowers through nondisclosure agreements.

My anti-gag provision is designed to put a stop to that.

I also championed laws and legislation to expand whistleblower protections for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

This Congress, I introduced much needed legislation to strengthen whistleblower protections for FBI employees.

But just because we’ve introduced legislation and passed good laws doesn’t mean we can stop paying attention.

I’ve worked hard to ensure individuals who retaliate against whistleblowers are held accountable. I’ve also pushed federal agencies to do right by whistleblowers.

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler made legally protected disclosures about government misconduct.

They were retaliated against and sidelined from doing their job.

This year, at my urging, they were taken out of the shadows of retaliation and were promoted by the Treasury Department.

I also pushed the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to end the seven-year nightmare for Customs and Border Protection whistleblowers Mark Jones, Mike Taylor and Fred Wynn.

These brave whistleblowers faced years of retaliation for blowing the whistle on the government’s failure to collect DNA at the border.

At my urging, this year the Department of Homeland Security promoted them and restored their law enforcement credentials.

So, they got their guns and badges back to do their job.

I’ve also worked to restore the security clearances of FBI employees who had them suspended or revoked.

These FBI employees were retaliated against and, as we all know, the FBI’s illegal power move is to take away security clearances.

Today, I’m happy to announce that one of my FBI whistleblowers just had his security clearance reinstated and he’s been re-employed by the FBI.

He got his job back.

FBI Director Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino did what their predecessors should’ve done a long time ago.”

Grassley outlined additional legislative initiatives aimed at protecting private sector workers who report wrongdoing. He referenced bipartisan bills such as The Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act—which seeks increased safeguards for employees working under federal contracts—and measures focused on corporate reporting through proposed reforms at entities like the Securities & Exchange Commission. Another proposal would extend protections specifically within fields related to artificial intelligence development.

He further noted ongoing challenges facing those who come forward with disclosures regardless of administration or political context. Addressing attendees directly he said: “Here’s my message to all whistleblowers in this room: just because I may disagree with the conclusions in a whistleblower disclosure it doesn’t mean that I don’t support a whistleblower’s right to come forward. And regardless of content every whistleblower must be protected from retaliation.”

Grassley concluded by reaffirming his commitment: “All of you here have put your careers livelihoods & reputations on line service our great country… God Bless you your service sacrifices… I'll continue fight you.”