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H.R. 5578: Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2026
119th Congress · introduced 2025-09-26 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 465.
federal
Official title
Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2026
Plain summary
Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2025 This bill expands whistleblower protections for employees of federal contractors and grant recipients to include the act of refusing to obey an unlawful order and to apply these protections to members of the intelligence community and other governmental employees. Current law protects employees of federal contractors or grant recipients from a reprisal (i.e., discharge, demotion, or discrimination) for disclosing evidence to Congress or another appropriate official of certain misconduct involving federal contracts, grants, or funds. The bill expands these protections to include an employee's refusal to obey an order that would require the employee to violate a law, rule, or regulation related to any contract, subcontract, grant, or subgrant. The bill also specifies that these protections apply to employees of federal contractors or grant recipients who are current or former members of the intelligence community or employees of state, local, or tribal governments. Further, the bill specifies that these protections may not be waived in a predispute arbitration agreement and renders any such agreement unenforceable. The bill specifies that an executive branch official may not request a federal contractor or grant recipient to engage in a reprisal against a protected employee, and it authorizes federal agencies to propose disciplinary action against officials that do so.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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Official text
Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2026
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
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Officials and money
Sponsor: Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42] · 1 cosponsors
Money: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 5578, Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act (2026-01-26) No linked contracts or vendors yet.
Words on this page, explained (2)
- Appropriation
- Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119hr5578.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr>
Record fed-us-cong119-hr5578 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills