House bill · 119th Congress · Latest step: Passed House

Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2026

H.R. 5578Introduced Sep 26, 2025Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Official title: To ensure that whistleblowers, including contractors, are protected from retaliation when a Federal employee orders a reprisal, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep. Robert Garcia D-CA

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Where it went

IntroducedSep 26, 2025
Committee actionDec 2, 2025
Passed HouseJul 20, 2026 · by voice vote
Passed Senate—
To the President—
Became law—

Latest action: Jul 21, 2026 — Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 465.

Cost and committee reports

Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 5578.

CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 5578, Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act” on January 26, 2026. CBO’s description reads “As ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on December 2, 2025”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, January 26, 2026 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/62041
CBO publication date
January 26, 2026
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 5578, 119th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/hr/5578
Record last updated by Congress.gov
August 6, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 13, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
a040cdf5e578dfe331b04bb9bf67955c88b8162a46e9cb22346973ea914b8d6e
PORKER links to the estimate and does not repeat its dollar figures. Each estimate is for the version of the bill its description names; the bill may have changed since.
Constitutional authority statementThe sponsor’s statement of where the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass this bill. Statement by Mr. GARCIA of California, as printed in the Congressional Record (Vol. 171, No. 158, September 26, 2025, Page H4502):
Article 1, Clause 8
Source: Congress.gov, Congressional Record September 26, 2025 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
constitutionalAuthorityStatementText
Statement length
19 characters
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 5578, 119th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/hr/5578
Record last updated by Congress.gov
August 6, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 13, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
a040cdf5e578dfe331b04bb9bf67955c88b8162a46e9cb22346973ea914b8d6e
PORKER shows the statement exactly as printed, with the page markup removed. It is the sponsor’s claim; it is not a legal finding.

Congress.gov’s record for this bill does not list a committee report (as of August 6, 2026). Not every bill gets one.

Sent to: Armed Services Committee, Oversight and Government Reform CommitteeBills with a CBO estimate Bills with a committee report See it in the Data Web

From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 5578, last updated August 6, 2026. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 13, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.

Vote results

No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).

Cosponsors

1 cosponsor — 1 Republican

1 of 1 cosponsors (100%) are from the other party.

James Comer (R-KY).

More from the sponsor

Other 119th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Robert Garcia.

Related bills

Relationships as recorded by Congress.gov.

Sponsor’s state and district

California in Congress · CA-42 district

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Data as of Sep 25, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.