DHS employees urge leadership to rescind "illegal gag order" on leaks
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees are calling on their leadership to rescind a recent directive instructing them to report colleagues they suspect of leaking sensitive government information, referring to it as an "illegal gag order."
In a letter Thursday, the national council representing thousands of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees and the Government Accountability Project, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, urged DHS leadership to withdraw the directive, saying it violates legal protections for government whistleblowers and creates a chilling effect for the workforce.
"When an agency unlawfully gags its employees, it threatens Congress's ability to engage in oversight; hampers citizens' right to know about serious misconduct and threats to public safety; and undermines policy-making that depends on the information of whistleblowers," the letter obtained by CBS News said.
The letter, which was addressed to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Deputy Undersecretary for Management Randolph Alles, responded to a message Alles emailed to department employees on October 13.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dhs-employees-urge-leadership-to-rescind-illegal-gag-order-on-leaks/ar-BB1akHh9?li=BBnb7Kz
