For more than 26 years in the U.S. Senate, Senator Grassley has taken on a sometimes overlooked and many times unglamorous part of a lawmaker’s job: congressional oversight. The three branches of the federal government operate on a system of checks and balances. From Senator Grassley's position in the legislative branch, he keeps close tabs on the other two branches to make sure the federal government works for, by and of the people.

As a taxpayer watchdog, Senator Grassley scrupulously searches for unscrupulous use of tax dollars. Every tax dollar lost to waste, fraud or abuse cheats the taxpaying public and prevents the federal government from serving the public good.

An anti-fraud tool that Senator Grassley secured into law 20 years ago is described by the U .S. Justice Department as the federal government’s best weapon against fraud. He salutes whistleblowers who come forward to expose wrongdoing and will continue to serve as an advocate for whistleblowers and advance legal protections for those who come forward with the truth.

Senator Grassley's oversight crusade goes well beyond protecting the public purse. He rides herd on federal agencies to make sure they are serving the public. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Republican-led administration or an executive branch taking marching orders from a Democrat in the Oval Office. Mismanagement is a non-partisan problem. Senator Grassley works to build accountability by letting more sunshine in on how the government conducts the people’s business.

Senator Grassley's spotlight also targets Congress. For starters, the Grassley-sponsored landmark Congressional Accountability Act enacted 10 years ago puts Capitol Hill under the same workplace safety and civil rights laws that impact Main Street businesses. Today he is pushing to provide whistleblower protections to employees of the legislative branch based on the proposition that opening up the people’s business to the light of day will strengthen representative government. Senator Grassley is committed to putting an end to "secret holds" in the U.S. Senate and allowing cameras into federal courts.

Senator Grassley introduced a comprehensive bill in January, which would get at the heart of fraud against Medicare by allowing the government more time to delay payment to Medicare providers when waste, fraud or abuse is suspected. Right now, a prompt-payment rule leads to pay-and-chase, rather than fraud prevention. Also this year, Grassley won passage of updates to False Claims Act provisions he got enacted in 1986 to fight fraud by government contractors. These whistleblower provisions have returned $22 billion to taxpayers that would otherwise be lost to fraud. The provisions have proven to be the government’s best weapon against health care fraud. Over time, the courts have weakened those provisions. Grassley makes sure they stay strong. Every Medicare dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that doesn’t serve beneficiaries as intended.

Tell Senator Grassley what you think about this issue.

For whistleblowers interested in contacting Senator Grassley’s oversight staff, click here.