NEWS: Trump moves to punish gov’t workers who expose illegal activity

New rules would strip protections for federal employees who blow the whistle.

Bottom Line Up Front

The Trump administration is moving to gut whistleblower protections for tens of thousands of federal workers, the people best positioned to expose government illegality. At the same time, Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds are publicly warning U.S. service members that they must “refuse illegal orders.” We’re not even a year into the second Trump administration and already we’ve got lawmakers warning government employees about NOT breaking the law and the White House making it easier to punish people for refusing to break the law.

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These two stories were a major focus this morning on DEFIANCE Radio, our daily 7 a.m. ET LIVE broadcast about the news of the day. You can listen below, or continue reading for the full story.

WHAT HAPPENED

According to internal documents reviewed by Reuters, the Trump administration is finalizing a rule that would remove longstanding legal protections for whistleblowers in tens of thousands of federal positions. They include senior officials in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating” roles. In order words, the administration is targeting the very people who see the wrongdoing first an who interact most frequently with senior Trump officials.

The rule would mean in theory that agencies could retaliate against whistleblowers with near-total impunity, that senior employees could be fired more easily, and that dissent — whether about illegal orders, misuse of funds, or abuse of authority — becomes a firing offense. Not only that, but the rule could increase the risks that whistleblowers face prosecution for exposing the very lawlessness that they’re supposed to be encouraged to report.

Lawyers representing federal workers called it what it plainly is. They’re saying this is a plan to silence dissent and build a culture of fear inside the government. This follows Trump’s broader purge of internal watchdogs, including firing the head of the Office of Special Counsel (the body responsible for protecting whistleblowers), pushing out inspectors general across 17 agencies, and replacing them with loyalists.

On the same day that this story broke, six Democratic lawmakers (all veterans and former intelligence officials) released an extraordinary video urging active-duty service members to uphold their oath and refuse illegal commands.

The video message was stark:

“You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA officer, was one of the lawmakers who organized the effort. She says she’s heard directly from troops worried about the legality of Trump-directed military strikes and fear they could be personally liable. Sen. Mark Kelly warned that active-duty sailors and airmen involved in extrajudicial maritime strikes may find out later they carried out operations “without legal justification.”

The White House responded by accusing the lawmakers of calling for “insurrection.”

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WHAT IT MEANS

Trump has issued a slew of unlawful orders — many of which the public only knows about because of whistleblowers, from efforts to punish the president’s enemies to illegal orders to kill people using missile strikes — and now the White House is preparing to eliminate legal protections for anyone who reports those crimes.

That combination is the architecture of authoritarian government. And the timing is no coincidence. The administration is under fire for a much longer list of legally dubious actions inside DOJ, DHS, DOD, and the Intelligence Community.

Simultaneously, lawmakers with battlefield and intelligence experience are warning troops that they may soon face more unlawful commands. These warnings do not come lightly. Veterans in Congress do not publicly tell the military to refuse orders unless they have reason to believe a crisis is imminent. The worry is that the White House’s feverish effort to remove broader protections for federal whistleblowers is preparation for further illegal acts.

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WHAT’S NEXT

If the rule is finalized, here’s what comes next. Dissent will get much, much harder inside the Executive Branch. The message of fear has already been sent almost every week with purges and punishment being directed at federal agencies from the White House. But this will be the most direct message yet.

Most federal employees who would normally raise concerns will likely stay silent or be forced to go home to their families and discuss the perilous path of speaking out, knowing the administration will be basically allowed to retaliate against them. Others will just leave government. Trump loyalists will surge into vacated roles. And on whole, the federal government will become more obedient and less lawful.

If this was the only controversy of the whole Trump administration, it would be worthy of wall-to-wall coverage.

This is why the video from the six lawmakers matters. They’re telling rank-and-file military officers and federal employees that, despite the threats of punishment, the law is bigger than Donald Trump. No “rule” issued by this administration can require someone to break the law.

And this is why whistleblowers — already under attack — need support more than ever. Only “talking” about these threats would be a waste of my time. If you want to doom-scroll without options for doing something about it, there’s a lot of other publications you could read. But those of you who are subscribed to this publication are literally funding efforts to do something about these stories.

In fact, tonight at the 5pm ET you can join the Weekly Spotlight for DEFIANCE.org, where we are going to give away money to an organization doing AMAZING work to fight back against Trump’s abuses of power and his threats against whistleblowers and give you the opportunity to be a part of that fight. That is, if you want to do something about it.

Your friend, in defiance,

P.S. WHAT’S HAPPENING ON DEFIANCE NEWS

Here’s what’s coming up.

1. TODAY / Weds, Nov 19 @ 12noon ET - Our Weekly Wednesday Coffees are BACK! For subscribers only. Join here.

2. TONIGHT / Weds, Nov 19 @ 5pm ET - DO. NOT. MISS. IT. The upcoming DEFIANCE.org Weekly Spotlight — “Blowing the Whistle on Trump” — is going to be great. And it’s your weekly dose of how you can fight back. You can find out more about how to join HERE. That link also has instructions on how paid subscribers can redeem their “free” Member-only access to DEFIANCE.org content.

3. TOMORROW / Thurs, Nov 20 @ 7am ET - Join me for another LIVE broadcast from DEFIANCE Radio. You can join here.

4. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT / Just Ask the Question - I joined my pal, former White House reporter

   Brian J Karem
   , for his JUST ASK THE QUESTION podcast where we talked about the Saudi visit to the United States. Watch the replay here.