Why We Can't Have Federal Whistleblowers, Per Congress

I’m watching the debate over amendment adding federal whistleblower protection to the stimulus package, on CSPAN.

And thus far, I’ve seen the following explanations for why we can’t have our billions of dollars in stimulus and TARP funds protected by Federal whistleblower protections.

Crazy Pete Hoekstra says we can’t have federal whistleblower protection because it would expose sources and methods.

Think about that. We can’t allow federal employees to come forward to report waste and fraud (and subsequently have their jobs protected) because doing so would expose sources and methods. 

Apparently, we’re stimulating the economy by employing a bunch of new spooks.

Then, another Congressman (sorry, didn’t get who it was) who argued that federal whistleblower protection would make it hard for TSA to ramp up screeners quickly.

Don’t worry, though, because the amendment just passed. So apparently those spooks who are getting hired under stimulus (!) better be careful…