U.S. senators have rekindled a bipartisan effort to fortify the Securities and Exchange Commission’s relatively young whistleblower program.
In particular, the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2025 — reintroduced by longtime whistleblower advocate Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and co-sponsored by another Republican and two Democrats — would outline protection from retaliation and timely processing of whistleblower claims.
The original SEC whistleblower program was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act and has been amended a few times since. The Whistleblower Reform Act of 2025, originally introduced two years ago, would provide a legislative fix to a 2018 judicial decision that eroded anti-retaliation protections for individuals at corporations who reported violations internally, such as to a direct superior, as opposed to directly to the SEC.
It also would make sure claims and awards were processed in a timely fashion, preventing claims backlogs, as well as clarify that pre-dispute arbitration agreements could not waive whistleblower rights.
The SEC Whistleblower Program has been successful, recouping more than $6.3 billion in sanctions since its formation; in fiscal 2024 alone, the SEC said it awarded more than $255 million to 47 individual whistleblowers and received more than 24,000 tips.
“Patriotic whistleblowers root out waste, fraud and abuse taking place in the shadows, and we should thank them for recovering billions of valuable taxpayer dollars,” Grassley said in his announcement of the bill. “I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation to increase government accountability by safeguarding the SEC’s Whistleblower Program.”
Amid current federal firings, whistleblowers are more important than ever to help the government uncover fraud, said Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.
The federal government has a range of whistleblower programs that apply to various departments intended to root out fraud in everything from federal contracts to complex financial transactions and taxes; it relies on whistleblowers to help root out and remedy these problems.
If you are an insider with unique information about activity that involves financial wrongdoing, threatens public safety, skirts laws or defrauds the U.S. government, contact Keller Grover for a free and confidential consultation. Our experienced whistleblower attorneys can answer questions and work with you to develop prudent next steps. In addition to providing a public service, whistleblowers who help expose fraud using established whistleblower programs may be eligible for an award — typically between 10 percent and 30 percent of recoveries.