PEERMail

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

PEERMail | Something Extraordinary – A Whistleblower Wins

by Jeff Ruch | April 15, 2021
After years of legal wrangling with the USGS and the Merit Systems Protection Board, a career microbiologist turned whislteblower is reinstated ...

PEERMail | BLM’s Litmust Test on Whistleblowers

by Tim Whitehouse | April 1, 2021
After years of mismanagement and retaliation against employees who raised concerns about oil and gas projects, can the BLM deliver on Biden's conservation promises ...

PEERMail | Sunshine Week: Not Letting Our Guard Down

by Tim Whitehouse | March 15, 2021
The fight for government transparency is reaffirmed each year during Sunshine Week, where we stand up for our rights to government information ...

PEERMail | Fraud in EPA’s Chemical Assessments 

by Tim Whitehouse | March 1, 2021
Toxic chemicals that are banned elsewhere continue to flood onto the U.S. market and fraudulent studies at the EPA are making matters worse ...

PEERMail | What’s Next On Scientific Integrity?

by Tim Whitehouse | February 16, 2021
The influence of scientists in government has been gradually eroded over the last four decades as powerful economic interests asserted themselves ...

PEERMail | Cautious Optimism for Biden’s Climate Direction

by Tim Whitehouse | February 1, 2021
New Biden Administration orders on climate and public lands are a call to action. Now the real work begins, and it’s not going to be easy ...