Comment on CFTC-2026-1222, CFTC-2026-1222-0001, Emily, Stulz
Emily StulzOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter opposes the proposed whistleblower award program, arguing that monetary incentives may encourage fraudulent claims and the targeting of political opponents. They suggest that the government should focus on creating rules to protect whistleblowers based on moral decency rather than providing financial rewards.
This feels uncomfortable for me as a person. I would rather see we create rules that protect whistleblowers from being targeted, not given money. Giving people money incentivizes them to make up things, or create problems that aren't actually there. Additionally, given how the current administration is using different departments and areas to punish people he doesn't like (like Colbert, or Kimmel), creating this type of program will just increase people to 'turn in' people that they know the administration doesn't like.
As I mentioned, we should be creating rules to protect whistleblowers so that they can come forward due to human decency and morals, not to get a down payment on a car (or whatever amount of money we are proposing to give people).
Also, the more I think about it, this is just going to increase the amount of fraudulent claims that your department will need to address, which will increase workload and then make it harder to deal with.