Department of Homeland Security Violates Whistleblower Protection Laws

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The Government Accountability Project (GAP) and the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) are challenging a decision by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to fire a Federal Air Marshal for revealing an unclassified plan that would have removed air marshals from nonstop long-distance flights, similar to those hijacked for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The whistleblower, Robert MacLean, is the first federal employee to be terminated for the "Unauthorized Release of Sensitive Security Information (SSI)." Today, MacLean filed documents in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, challenging TSA's claim that the information constitutes SSI.

In July 2003, only days after DHS issued warnings that stemmed from a foiled hijacking plot, MacLean exposed that the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) was planning to drastically reduce air marshal protection of long haul flights. Although the nationally broadcasted cellular phone text message that MacLean disclosed only mentioned reductions planned until August 9, 2003, "FAMS officials said that these program reductions would have continued for the remainder of the fiscal year," according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued in March 2004. High-risk flights would have been affected for three months.

TSA's plan was at odds with the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, whose Section 105 states that "Deployment of Federal Air Marshals... nonstop, long distance flights, such as those targeted on September 11, 2001, should be a priority."

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