While the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (“WPEA”) protects whistleblowers from retaliation for disclosing a violation of law, rule, or regulation, the statute does not define those terms. In its first whistleblower retaliation case since Congress allowed whistleblower appellants from Board decisions to file in any U.S. Court of Appeals for a five-year trial period, the Fourth Circuit grappled with the definition of “rule” and its applicability to non-mandatory provisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions for writ of certiorari on Garcia v. Bloomberg and Robinson v. U.S., two cases on which FEDagent previously reported.

After succumbing to bribes from Columbian drug lord, Jose Bayron Piedrahita, a former federal agent in Miami persuaded federal prosecutors to dismiss Piedrahita from indictment in one of the largest drug smuggling cases in U.S. history.

FEDS just celebrated its 10-year anniversary defending federal employees, and we take this opportunity to share our insights.

Tune in this week for a panel discussion year in review with top federal government reporters.

With football season well underway, the National Law Enforcement Museum thought it would be fun to share this gem from our collection. Written during Theodore Roosevelt’s time as Police Commissioner (1895-1897), this letter reveals a bit about his personality and interests. It is one of a series of correspondence between Roosevelt and E.E. Garrison, Esq. of the Yale University Foot Ball Association.

Senators on both sides teamed up to fortify the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers after the Air Force neglected to report the criminal history of the gunman who killed twenty-five people at a Texas church.

On October 6, 2017, two petitions for writs of certiorari were filed with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to determine whether the time period for a federal employee to appeal a final order of the Merit Systems Protection Board to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is purely jurisdictional, and therefore cannot be “equitably tolled” under any circumstances.

News coverage is consistently filled with reports of the latest purported government “scandal” or failure. While these issues may often deserve attention, they frequently drown out examples of government done well.

A supervisor in FBI’s counterterrorism unit is the subject of an internal investigation after a night of drinking led to the theft of his gun, his Rolex, and cash from his hotel room.

Due to the overwhelming success of last year’s 2016 Corvette Z06 raffle, The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund have this year again teamed up with Brian Kaminskey to offer a raffle of a custom 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL to benefit the families of our Fallen Hero’s and contribute to building the National Law Enforcement Museum!

In the wake of the most recent data breach of Equifax, FLEOA has provided an update on the June 2015 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach to include claims, lawsuits and legislation.

A veteran DEA agent was charged recently with an array of federal charges, including perjury and stealing thousands of dollars in drug money, according to the Department of Justice.

On October 26, 2017, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, after granting the Department of Justice’s petition for rehearing en banc, vacated its prior decision, and found that preference-eligible FBI employees appealing an adverse action to the Merit Systems Protection Board may not raise an affirmative defense of whistleblower reprisal, nor may they file an individual right of action (“IRA”) appeal to bring whistleblower claims to the Board.

On October 13, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a petition for rehearing en banc filed by the Department of Defense, and vacated the court’s panel opinion in Federal Education Association-Stateside Region v. Department of Defense. 841 F.3d 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2016), reversing an arbitrator’s opinion after finding a due process violation. In its October 13, 2017 order, the appeals court requested that the parties address the relevant cases and issues, but specifically requested that the parties address the court’s decisions in Sullivan v. Department of Navy, 720 F.2d 1266 (Fed. Cir. 1983) and Ryder v. United States, 585 F.2d 482 (Ct. Cl. 1978).

A former federal prosecutor, Tom Roth, once said, “In my experience, it is often the most aggressive, most productive, and most capable agents that get ground up in the disciplinary machinery of their respective law enforcement agencies.”

In a consolidated multidistrict class action against the Office of Personnel Management following a severe data breach of OPM’s cybersecurity that affected millions of federal employees and former federal employees, federal employees and the union alleged gross negligence and a violation of constitutional rights to informational privacy, but the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case on September 19, 2017. On October 12, 2017, the employees appealed the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit.

This week on FEDtalk, we are discussing the dwindling capacity of members and their staffs to effectively do their jobs as responsibilities increase.

Two Chinese nationals suspected of manufacturing and distributing in the U.S. a synthetic opioid that kills thousands of Americans every year were recently indicted.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) arrested 17 people accused of stealing firearms from gun stores across the state of Colorado.