WASHINGTON, D.C./November 5, 2026 – Today, Federal News Network published an op-ed by Special Counsel Charles Baldis on the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s (OSC’s) work in fiscal year (FY) 2026. The Special Counsel applauds OSC’s career employees for the impressive results they achieved, even with the 43-day government shutdown. Those results include a record 363 prohibited personnel practice cases resolved with at least one favorable outcome. OSC also referred 47 whistleblower disclosures for agency investigation, the most since FY 2021.
The article also highlighted several of OSC’s whistleblower disclosure cases that closed in FY 2026, including understaffing at the Federal Aviation Administration, overstaffing at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reimbursement backlogs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and systemic failures in opioid prescribing practices at the VA.
"These cases show why the disclosure process matters: an employee can identify a problem, an investigation establishes the facts, and the agency has an opportunity to correct it," Special Counsel Baldis wrote.
Read the full op-ed here.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. OSC’s statutory authority comes from four federal laws: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).