President Signs OSC Reauthorization Act into Law; Measure Clarifies that Federal Agencies May Not Withhold Information from OSC

December 12, 2017

President Trump today signed into law legislation reauthorizing the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

President Donald Trump today signed into law legislation reauthorizing the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC). The legislation, included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, reauthorizes OSC through 2023. Importantly, the bill (in Section 1097) clarifies that when complying with OSC’s information requests, federal agencies may not withhold information and documents from OSC by asserting common law privileges such as attorney-client privilege.

Several agencies have invoked attorney-client privilege to withhold information and documents vital to OSC’s whistleblower retaliation investigations. The issue was the subject of a congressional hearing in March. Both the House and Senate committee reports on the new legislation make clear that Congress always intended for OSC to have full access to conduct its investigations. The reauthorization measure re-asserts OSC’s ability to obtain needed information and documents.

The reauthorization measure also promotes greater efficiency and accountability within OSC, improves protections against retaliatory investigations and other forms of reprisal for whistleblowing, and requires managers across the federal government to respond appropriately to disclosures of waste, fraud, and abuse. It comes after the enactment of the Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, which enhanced disciplinary penalties for supervisors who engage in whistleblower retaliation, among other key improvements.

“Congress and the President continue to give the U.S. Office of Special Counsel strong support to fulfill our mission of helping federal government whistleblowers expose waste, fraud, abuse or other inappropriate conduct,” Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner said. “We welcome the vote of confidence to carry out our work for the American people.”