{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-to-space-agency-keep-nasa-whistleblowers-in-orbit", "McCaskill to Space Agency: Keep NASA Whistleblowers in Orbit", "2016-11-22", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "McCaskill to Space Agency: Keep NASA Whistleblowers in Orbit \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Senator has worked to protect whistleblowers at federal agencies & extend protections for grantees, subcontractors \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTuesday, November 22, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a leading voice for federal whistleblower protections, is urging NASA to implement the protections she helped pass into law earlier this year, after reports of delays and a lack of oversight at the space agency.\r\n\u201cWhistleblowers play a critical role in government oversight,\u201d wrote McCaskill to the government\u2019s top watchdog, requesting a report on whistleblower protections at NASA. \u201cThey are our eyes and ears on the ground and their disclosures about waste, fraud, abuse and public safety support have increased accountability and transparency in our government\u2026 I have grown increasingly concerned that these agencies are not doing their part in implementing these protections\u2026 little oversight has been done on NASA\u2019s efforts at implementation of enhanced whistleblower protections for contractors and grantees.\u00a0I have received troubling reports regarding some whistleblower cases falling through the cracks due to implementation delays.\u201d\r\nIn September, McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor who was just named the top-ranking Democrat on the top committee for oversight and accountability in government, introduced legislation to expand protections for whistleblowers after a recent government watchdog report, completed at McCaskill\u2019s request, detailed examples of retaliation and intimidation against whistleblowers by contractors at the Department of Energy\u2014which has the largest civilian contracting workforce in the federal government.\r\nIn June, the Senate passed McCaskill\u2019s legislation to extend whistleblower protections for all federal government grantees, subgrantees, and subcontractors, and make permanent these protections for all federal contractors. The bill also prohibits contractors from being reimbursed for legal fees accrued in their defense against retaliation claims by whistleblowers. Currently, a pilot program set to expire applies whistleblower protections to contractors, grant recipients, and subcontractors, but not to employees of subgrantees\u2014even though the federal government distributes billions in grant funding each year, much of which gets passed through to other organizations.\r\nFull text of the letter HERE.\r\nVisit mccaskill.senate.gov/accountability to read more about McCaskill\u2019s fight for stronger accountability in Washington.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-to-space-agency-keep-nasa-whistleblowers-in-orbit"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.4872878566384315, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}