Our nation has recognized the value of whistleblowers virtually since its inception. An experienced whistleblower attorney helps carry that tradition forward by protecting insiders who take risks to expose wrongdoing.
The United States’ first whistleblower law won unanimous approval on July 30, 1778 — in the midst of the Revolutionary War. In 2013, the Senate set aside July 30 to commemorate that action; it has recognized the day every year since.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, longtime champions of whistleblowers, will be featured speakers at the celebration on Capitol Hill.
“Whistleblowers foster transparency and accountability across government and the private sector,” Grassley said in a written statement. “You can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken. On National Whistleblower Day, we recognize the patriotic men and women who risk their reputation and often their job to shine a light on fraud, save taxpayer money and root out wrongdoing.”
Wyden said whistleblowers today are more important than ever to “preserving the foundation of our democracy,” and he is focused on protecting them.
Whistleblowing has evolved quite a bit over the years.
That first instance involved a commodore accused of torturing British prisoners of war, among other crimes; he was removed from his post. He tried to retaliate against the whistleblowers who reported him, but Congress stepped in, passing that first whistleblower protection resolution.
Nearly a century later, during the Civil War, Congress passed the False Claims Act of 1863 (the “Lincoln Law”) in response to contractors selling defective goods to the Union army. We still use this robust law today, with some updates; it lets private citizens bring fraud lawsuits on behalf of the U.S. government, with the potential to receive a portion of the funds the government recovers as a reward. Whistleblowers prompted the vast majority of the $2.9 billion in FCA recoveries during the last fiscal year.
In the 21st Century, Congress has established whistleblower laws with a broader range of applications, such as:
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), passed in 2002 following major corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom. It sought to protect investors from corporate accounting fraud, and it protects whistleblowers who report wrongdoing by publicly traded companies.
- The Dodd-Frank Act, a key Wall Street reform law passed after the 2008-09 financial crisis, built on SOX to establish multiple whistleblower programs across agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
- The IRS whistleblower program, updated in 2006, established a mandatory rewards law for whistleblowers exposing tax fraud in large cases, among other changes.
The Executive Branch has also acknowledged the key role whistleblowers play by launching programs inviting whistleblowers to assist in exposing wrongdoing that has been historically difficult to enforce without insiders, and offering them rewards for doing it. These programs include:
- The Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program at the Department of Treasury
- The Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Program at the Department of Transportation
- The Pilot Corporate Whistleblower Program at the Department of Justice to incentivize and reward whistleblowers to come forward with original information of actionable corporate wrongdoing that is not covered by an existing whistleblower program.
- And most recently, the Antitrust Whistleblower Program announced by the DOJ in July 2025, in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, to offer financial incentives for those who provide information about antitrust crimes.
With these broader programs, whistleblowers can help protect not only the federal government and taxpayers, but the public, as well. On National Whistleblower Day, we applaud their integrity, courage and tenacity.
If you suspect wrongdoing, reach out — Keller Grover has deep experience helping potential whistleblowers, providing confidential, free consultations. Speaking with an experienced whistleblower attorney can help you understand your rights, protect against retaliation, and pursue potential rewards under the law.