Bills progress in Senate committee to safeguard whistleblowers and rectify pension benefits for Customs and Border Protection employees.
Senate Committee Advances Two Bills to Protect Whistleblowers and Correct Retirement Errors for CBP Officers
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has unanimously advanced two bills aimed at expanding whistleblower protections for federal contractors and correcting a more than decade-old error affecting around 1,350 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.
The 2025 Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act (S. 874), sponsored by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., aims to extend whistleblower protections to federal contractors. This bill would invalidate any predispute arbitration agreement that waives a contractor's rights as a whistleblower.
On the other hand, the 2025 Customs and Border Protection Officers Retirement Corrections Act (S. 727), sponsored by Sen. Gary Peters and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, aims to require CBP to honor enhanced retirement benefits to impacted workers who were mistakenly given and then rescinded those benefits in 2020. The error concerns retirement benefits for CBP officers hired before July 6, 2008.
Sen. Gary Peters stated that the bills ensure CBP upholds its commitment to these public servants and provides them with the retirement benefits they earned through their years of service. He further added that the 2025 Customs and Border Protection Officers Retirement Corrections Act addresses a retirement benefits issue affecting around 1,350 CBP officers.
The committee also advanced the bill S. 727 to correct pension errors for U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees, which was introduced by Senators Joe Manchin and John Kennedy. The bill includes retroactive annuity increases for those who have retired before the bill's enactment.
In a statement, Maya Efrati, director of legislation and congressional affairs for the Government Accountability Project, applauded the panel's unanimous vote. The bill previously advanced unanimously out of the panel last year, but was not called up for a vote on the Senate floor.
Both bills now head to the Senate floor for consideration by the full chamber. If passed, the 2025 Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act will provide essential protections for federal contractors who report misconduct, while the 2025 Customs and Border Protection Officers Retirement Corrections Act will rectify a long-standing error in CBP officer retirement benefits.
