Trump administration

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.

Idiocracy: Loyalty Displaces Competence in Trump World

by Jeff Ruch | August 1, 2025
In his second term, Trump has assembled perhaps the least distinguished Cabinet in modern history, abandoning any pretense of picking people based upon competence ...

Webinar | Speaking Up Under Trump: What to Know About Whistleblowing and Free Speech

by PEER | July 29, 2025
Watch this webinar to delve into the challenges that government employees now face who work on environmental and natural resource management in the federal government ...

TAKE ACTION | Protect America’s Farms and Food

by PEER | July 22, 2025
Letter calling on the House of Representatives to remove Section 507 from the Interior & Environment Appropriations Bill and allow EPA to complete and act on its Risk Assessment for PFAS in sludge ...