The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today launched a new webpage that will, for the first time, publicly show the number of open whistleblower disclosure investigations. These statistics on open cases are broken down by agency, where the Special Counsel has determined there is a “substantial likelihood" of misconduct, and the agency has not provided a report of its findings within the 60-day response period established by Congress.
The law authorizing OSC to demand agencies investigate possible wrongdoing based on whistleblower allegations expects an agency report within 60 days of OSC's referral. While OSC can grant an extension of that deadline for an agency to complete its investigation and report, going forward OSC will publish statistics of allegations that have been referred for investigation when the agency has not completed a report within the statutory 60 days.
OSC's new webpage provides current statistics for open whistleblower disclosure investigations where: (i) OSC determined there is a “substantial likelihood" that the information provided by the federal employee whistleblower discloses a violation of a law, rule, or regulation, or gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, or certain other wrongdoing; (ii) referred the allegations to the agency pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 1213(c); and (iii) is awaiting a final report from the agency.
“Agency heads are expected by Congress to issue findings within 60 days after receiving a referral from OSC. But too often investigations are taking years to complete," said Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger. “Americans have a right to know which agencies are investigating serious allegations and be assured the reviews are happening in the timely way Congress intended. Providing data on open whistleblower investigations is a practical step in our efforts to make more information public about OSC's work."
OSC will update the page weekly as investigations are completed and agency findings are made public on our website. This is an initial step as OSC continues to evaluate stakeholder feedback to the Special Counsel's full transparency proposal.
The new Work in Progress webpage can be found here.
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