Office of the Special Counsel, Merit Systems Protection Board

Testimony was given concerning protections against reprisals available to government whistleblowers. GAO reviewed personnel action complaints filed with the Office of the Special Counsel for relief from some adverse agency action taken allegedly without cause. GAO noted that few complainants received relief through the Office of the Special Counsel because of: (1) a limited role assumed by the Special Counsel; (2) difficulties in the standard of proof; and (3) the lack of sufficient merit. GAO found that most of the complaints involved minor disputes with supervisors or personal objections to agency policy, under the guise of whistleblowing; therefore, a substantial proportion of the individuals who appealed to the Special Counsel for protection under the whistleblower reprisal provisions of the law were not legitimate whistleblowers.