Hassan pursues bipartisan bill to make whistleblower rewards permanent

Jul. 27—WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is authoring bipartisan legislation to make permanent the rewards given to whistleblowers who root out commodity trading wrongdoing and waste, which already has resulted in $400 million in fines over the past two years.

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Hassan co-wrote to extend these rewards for two years.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rewards individuals who help root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

The agency's whistleblower program has been in place since 2014 and produced $3 billion in fines while rewarding whistleblowers with about $330 million.

The earlier law Hassan co-wrote raised a cap in that fund to $150 million to ensure the program would not run out of money and could pay ongoing expenses.

Without further action on this new bill Hassan and Grassley have written, the program will end this September.

"When whistleblowers bravely step forward, they are risking their careers in order to prevent wrongdoing and save taxpayer dollars," Hassan said. "It is vital that this fund for whistleblowers remains available in the future to continue saving billions of dollars."

These fines paid after whistleblower disclosures finance the program. Operating expenses and educational initiatives are also paid out of the fund.

Any fines collected after the account reaches the $150 million cap goes to the Department of Treasury's general fund.

During 2021, Hassan and Grassley stepped in when the fund was at risk of going into the red.

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Hassan chairs the Emergency Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

With then-ranking Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in August 2022, the pair introduced legislation to further save taxpayer dollars by eliminating duplicative programs.

Hassan sought this bill after chairing a hearing in June 2022 that focused on the Government Accountability Office's most recent report detailing duplication, overlap, and fragmentation in federal programs and ways for Congress and federal agencies to address these issues.

"New Hampshire has a proud tradition of fiscal responsibility, and this bipartisan legislation reflects that," Hassan said. "Our citizens expect us to do everything that we can to ensure that their taxpayer dollars are being spent efficiently, and this legislation will help us cut wasteful spending."

Paul said of the measure, "Our nation cannot continue to pile debt on top of debt, mortgaging our children's future for wasteful spending today.

"Our bipartisan legislation will lead to real savings right away by cutting wasteful and duplicate spending and programs, which is something everyone should agree on."

In May 2022, the nonpartisan Lugar Center honored her as the "Most Bipartisan Senator".

The nonpartisan, Fix The Debt group named Hassan of five Senate Democrats as "Fiscal Heroes" a month later.

klandrigan@unionleader.com