The record

LegislationLegislation· Jul 2026
HR 5578 Passed House — in Senate

Sponsored by Robert Garcia (D)

Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2026

Expands whistleblower protections for federal contractor and grant recipient employees.

Tradeoff

Protects contractor employees who refuse unlawful orders or report misconduct from being fired or demoted. No data on fiscal cost.

What's in it

See official bill text

Costs less than $500,000 over 2026-2030 for administrative implementation.

The less-than-$500,000 figure is just the federal cost to update policies and procedures—the policy's real impact is on contractors and grantees who gain stronger legal protections against retaliation for whistleblowing.

H.R. 5578, Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act · Jan 2026

Passed the House by on July 20, 2026 — sitting in the Senate.

  1. House

    Introduced

    (Sep 26, 2025)

  2. House

    Committee on Oversight and Government Reform(Sep 26, 2025)

    The bill went to more than one committee at the same time.

  3. House

    The committee voted to send it to the floor

    Reported 44 - 0(Dec 2, 2025)

  4. House

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Jul 20, 2026)

    No individual votes were recorded.

  5. Senate

    Received from the House

    Received(Jul 21, 2026)