Whistleblowing in the government

If you are a government employee, you may be informed that there is protection for whistleblowers provided by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which is a quasi government agency intended to enforce certain OPM rules. Although protection for whistleblowers is one of the stated reasons for the existence of the OSC, its actual record protecting whistleblowers is horrible. The number of whistleblowers it has protected is minuscule. Satistics will have to be provided later.

Generally what it does is conclude that evidence was not provided to "prove" that one has experienced reprisal as a whistleblower. For example, one might report waste, fraud, or abuse or some combination thereof to the agency Office of the Inspector General. That, my friend, is a black-hole from which your report will not return. You supervisor will learned through sources and methods that you have gone to the OIG. You will then find that all sorts of untoward things will happen -- like your performance will need improvement or your duties will be stripped from you or you will be sent off on a detail.

As someone who experienced the detail thing, let me tell you that it will not be because the OIG is investigating and trying to protect you while doing so. No, the reason will be because the office you work for is busy on the fraud that you have reported and finds you a pesky problem.

Various things will happen depending on the agency you work for and the crimes that you have unexpectedly stumbled upon. As a government employee you will find preciously little protection. If you have the misfortune of being a third-party contractor, you are toast. Suddenly in the middle of the project that you are working on you are no longer needed.

Congress has passed a Whistleblower Protection Act. It is supposed to protect almost all Whistleblowers. But what I can't understand is -- if whistleblowers are protected, why was I forced out of my job at the Department of State for blowing the whistle? Something just does not add up.

This is just the first installment in a very long and complex story of waste, fraud, and abuse that goes from the top to the bottom. Hillary Clinton being at the top in this story and me being at the bottom.