United States Office of Special Counsel

United States
Office of Special Counsel
Official seal
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 1, 1979
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
Headquarters1730 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
Employees140 (FY 2021)[1]
Annual budgetUS$20.639 million (2014)
Agency executive
Websitehttps://osc.gov/

The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority comes from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). OSC's primary mission is the safeguarding of the merit system in federal employment by protecting employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices (PPPs), especially reprisal for "whistleblowing." The agency also operates a secure channel for federal whistleblower disclosures of violations of law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; abuse of authority; and substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. In addition, OSC issues advice on the Hatch Act and enforces its restrictions on partisan political activity by government employees. Finally, OSC protects the civilian employment and reemployment rights of military service members under USERRA. OSC has around 140 staff, and the Special Counsel is an ex officio member of Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an association of inspectors general charged with the regulation of good governance within the federal government.

  1. ^ Status of Telework in the Federal Government: Report to Congress (PDF) (Report). United States Office of Personnel Management. December 2022. p. 98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-12-29.