Thread by @dcolapinto

Do you remember when you joined Twitter? I do! #MyTwitterAnniversary

I joined @Twitter on January 17, 2009 to track the progress of and to amplify support of #Whistleblower reforms that were proposed in the Obama administration. There’s been many ups and downs.

The promise to pass reforms to allow federal employees to file #Whistleblower retaliation cases in federal court and get jury trials was a cruel hoax. In the end the Obama administration killed jury trial reforms and said improved administrative processes will suffice.

Today, those administrative processes are badly broken. The Merit Systems Protection Board has been broken for 5+ years, unable to issue a single #Whistleblower decision in that entire time.

The failed promise to reform federal employee #Whistleblower laws was the result of cynical back room deals, starting with @SenatorCollins demanding removal of the whistleblower amendment from the Obama stimulus bill in exchange for her vote.

It should be said that in 2009 House @SpeakerPelosi was a true hero adding federal employee #Whistleblower reforms as an amendment to the Obama stimulus bill. The betrayal was in the Senate where all good legislation goes to die.

Once @SenatorCollins killed federal #whistleblower reform as part of the stimulus bill she joined forces with the likes of Joe Lieberman, who hijacked the next “reform” bill and turned it into one of the worst pieces of legislation ever proposed for whistleblowers.

However, there were better days ahead. In 2010, the Senate passed one of the best #whistleblower provisions ever enacted, in the Dodd-Frank Act, creating awards to encourage whistleblowers to report financial fraud.

While it took the collapse of the financial system to get a good #whistleblower law, since passage of the Dodd-Frank Act both the SEC and CFTC have relied on whistleblowers to help transform the fight against corporate and financial fraud to protect investors and the economy.

There have been other legislative successes along the way, mostly with the hard work of Sen. @ChuckGrassley building bipartisan coalitions to pass decent #Whistleblower reforms in many areas.

13 years later, advocating for #Whistleblower rights hasn’t gotten any easier. We still have a lot of work to do.