Grassley, Warren Seek to Strengthen SEC Whistleblower Program

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced legislation to strengthen whistleblower protections at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2025 would ensure timely processing of whistleblower claims and protect whistleblowers from retaliation. 

“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. I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation to increase government accountability by safeguarding the SEC’s Whistleblower Program,” Grassley said.

“It’s more important than ever to protect whistleblowers who report wrongdoing in the federal government. We’re witnessing President Trump, Elon Musk, and their operatives dismantle entire agencies, install loyalists, undermine consumer and investor protection laws, access sensitive personal information about millions of Americans, and do favors for their billionaire friends at the expense of everyone else. I’m proud to stand with whistleblowers who shine a light on that kind of corruption, and to co-lead this effort to strengthen the whistleblower protections at the SEC,” Warren said.

“Now more than ever, it's critical that we protect the brave public servants willing to do what's right and expose wrongdoing. There is bipartisan agreement that we must strengthen whistleblower protections to ensure they don’t face retaliation for the risks they take,” said Senator Cortez Masto.

“The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act is urgently needed legislation to protect innocent investors from frauds. Since its inception under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program has recouped over $6.3 billion in sanctions, placing billions back in the hands of honest investors and taxpayers … The SEC Whistleblower Reform Act redresses the erosion of anti-retaliation protections following Digital Realty. It is a bipartisan, common-sense legislation. It rebuilds the protective framework for whistleblowers that made the SEC Whistleblower Program a success,” said Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center’s Board of Directors Stephen M. Kohn.

Additional cosponsors are Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).

Specifically, the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2025 would:

1. Protect whistleblowers who report violations to a direct superior from retaliation. Currently, they are only protected if they report directly to the SEC or certain officials.
2. Ensure that claims and awards are processed in a timely manner. Although the SEC has recently improved, it previously had a years-long backlog of claims.
3. Clarify that whistleblowers cannot waive their rights through a pre-dispute arbitration agreement.

Since Grassley helped create the SEC’s whistleblower program in 2010, it has achieved tremendous success. In Fiscal Year 2024, the SEC reported awarding over $255 million to whistleblowers and received over 24,000 whistleblower tips.

The full text of the bill is available HERE.

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