Chuck Grassley

=== Whistleblowers ===
The author of the [[Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989]], Grassley has campaigned to increase protection and provide support for "[[whistleblowers]]". He has supported a number of FBI whistleblowers, including [[Coleen Rowley]], [[Sibel Edmonds]], and [[Jane Turner (FBI whistleblower)|Jane Turner]], although not supporting Department of Defense whistleblower Noel Koch.<ref name="DoD whistleblower Noel Koch">{{cite news|url=http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=noel_koch_1|title=1983: Neoconservative Arrives at Pentagon, Allegedly Acts as Israeli Agent within Defense Department|date=February 24, 2004|newspaper=Counterpunch|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115073633/http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=noel_koch_1|archive-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref>

Grassley received a lifetime achievement award on May 17, 2007, from the [[National Whistleblower Center]].
In April 2014, Grassley announced plans to create a caucus in the Senate dedicated to strengthening whistleblower protections.<ref name="Whistleblower Protection Caucus">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/04/10/sen-charles-grassley-plans-new-whistleblower-protection-caucus/|title=Sen. Charles Grassley plans new whistleblower-protection caucus|last=Hicks|first=Josh|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=April 19, 2014|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416084711/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/04/10/sen-charles-grassley-plans-new-whistleblower-protection-caucus/|archive-date=April 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/grassley-grilled-on-snowden-views-at-whistleblower-talk/article_9e12d84e-af92-5518-989c-ac5115e874af.html|title=Grassley grilled on Snowden views at whistleblower talk|author=Christina Crippes |website=Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier|date=January 23, 2014 |access-date=January 25, 2019|archive-date=January 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126001330/https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/grassley-grilled-on-snowden-views-at-whistleblower-talk/article_9e12d84e-af92-5518-989c-ac5115e874af.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Grassley defended the whistleblower in the [[Trump–Ukraine scandal]], breaking with his party line, when he declared on October 1, 2019, that the whistleblower "appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/chuck-grassley-defends-ukraine-whistleblower-breaking-gop-trump-n1060871|title=Chuck Grassley defends Ukraine whistleblower, breaking with GOP and Trump|last=Gregorian|first=Dareh|newspaper=[[NBC News]]|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=October 13, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191013112638/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/chuck-grassley-defends-ukraine-whistleblower-breaking-gop-trump-n1060871|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/01/grassley-trump-whistleblower-014715|title=Grassley breaks with Trump over protecting whistleblower|last=Everett|first=Burgess|newspaper=[[Politico]]|date=October 1, 2019|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002004503/https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/01/grassley-trump-whistleblower-014715|url-status=live}}</ref>

After whistleblowers Colonel [[Alexander Vindman]] and Ambassador [[Gordon Sondland]] testified against Donald Trump and were subsequently fired, Grassley defended Trump's firing of both whistleblowers on the grounds that their firing was not retaliatory.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Coltrain|first=Nick|title=Sen. Chuck Grassley rejects retaliation claim in Trump removing impeachment witnesses|url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/12/chuck-grassley-donald-trump-impeachment-witnesses-no-retaliation-alexander-vindman-gordon-sondland/4736099002/|access-date=October 31, 2020|website=[[Des Moines Register]]|language=en-US}}</ref>