FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama delivers his remarks during 10th anniversary ceremonies at the Sept. 11 memorial in New York. This year's Sept. 11 anniversary in New York will be the first in which politicians are excluded from speaking at the commemoration ceremony at ground zero. (AP Photo/Allan Tannenbaum, Pool, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is providing protection for whistle-blowers in the national security arena so that they can report waste, fraud and abuse without fear of retaliation.
The president has signed a policy directive providing the protection because legislation in Congress has not done so. A rewrite of the whistle-blower protection law is in the Senate. House Republicans removed the proposed protection for those involved in national security.
Under the president's new policy, whistle-blowers who handle classified information — meaning almost everyone in the intelligence community — can report wrongdoing or bureaucratic breakdowns as long as they do so within channels at their agencies.
