In their letter, Grassley and Chaffetz said, “Federal employees will most certainly read this instruction as a prohibition against direct communications with Congress without permission. As such, it is potentially illegal and unconstitutional, and will likely chill protected disclosures of waste, fraud, and abuse.” They reiterated the need for whistleblower protections and ask the Secretary to issue guidance clarifying that employees have the right to communicate “directly and independently with Congress.” “These provisions are significant because they ensure that attention can be brought to problems in the Executive Branch that need to be fixed. Protecting whistleblowers who courageously speak out is not a partisan issue—it is critical to the functioning of our government,” the letter continues.
Grassley and Chaffetz went on to point out that federal employees have a constitutional right to communicate directly with Congress and “petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” and that “Congress has long protected that right.” “In order to correct this potential violation of federal law, we request that as soon as possible you issue specific written guidance to all agency employees making them aware of their right to communicate directly and independently with Congress. Such guidance should inform employees of the whistleblower protections that apply, and make clear that the agency will not retaliate against any employee who chooses to exercise these rights.”
The letter also requests Price to provide the Committees with a copy of the guidance once issued, by no later than May 18, 2017.
