How Government Accountability Legslation Encourages Whistleblowing

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An agency that works for Congress and the American people, the role of the Government Accountability office is to study the programs and expenditures of the federal government as a form of ombudsman.

Also commonly known as the investigative arm of Congress or the congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability office is as independent and nonpartisan body, which studies how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.

The Government Accountability office advises Congress and the heads of executive agencies (such as Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Department of Defense, DOD, and Health and Human Services, HHS) on methods to improve government offices and make them more effective and responsive. Government Accountability office's role is also to evaluate the worth of federal programs, audit federal expenditures, and if necessary to issue legal opinions.

The Government Accountability office does not only report its findings to Congress, it also recommends actions to save money. Its actions leads to the implementation of laws and acts designed to identify problems and improve government operations. There interventions in government fiscal policies have been known to save billions of federal dollars every year.

One of their legislations, which have proved especially effective, is the False Claims Act which has led to the evolution of the Whistleblower Act, introduced in 2001. This legislation is possibly the single most efficient law in the United States in reducing federal fraud. Simple but highly efficient, it allows any federal employee who discovers fraud against the federal government to make a report of it through the specialized procedures of the law. As an incentive, the federal government allows the whistleblower to claim a generous share in the proceeds if they are able to collect from the party who committed the fraud.

This law has two sections that are of high relevance to whistleblowers. The first being that the whistleblower may be to entitled to obtain a large financial award and the second section of the false claim act allows a provision for anti-retaliation. This provision prohibits harassment or discharge of a whistleblower that has made a disclosure on suspicious activities, even if proved to be unfounded.

Every year, thousands of Americans witness wrongdoing on the job. What they witness may jeopardize the health, safety or lives of others. This legislation introduced and fostered by the Government Accountability office has gone a long way to curtailing these dubious activities and saving billions along the way.