The Trump administration is proposing a government-wide nondisclosure agreement for federal employees as part of a broader effort to prevent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information to the media.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has released a draft NDA template and is seeking public comment on the proposal. If finalized, the agreement could become part of the onboarding process for both new and current federal workers.
According to the draft rule, the proposal was prompted by a series of recent leaks involving sensitive government information, including disclosures tied to immigration enforcement operations and confidential details related to a U.S. action overseas. The agency also cited the release of personal information belonging to roughly 4,500 Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, including frontline enforcement personnel.
OPM said the agreement is intended to have employees acknowledge their “legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information.”
The administration said the proposal would not impose new restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights, but would instead standardize how workers recognize existing obligations regarding confidential government information.
The draft agreement would apply to information involving “internal agency operations, personnel matters, procurement processes, or any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material that is not currently publicly available and should not be disclosed under applicable law.”
Federal agencies would have the option of deciding whether to require employees to sign the agreements. The proposal also asks for public input on whether the NDAs should apply only to unclassified information and on what penalties, if any, should be imposed on employees who refuse to sign.
A separate draft rule proposed last year suggested refusal to sign could result in termination or debarment from future federal employment.
Under the proposed agreement, former employees would also need written permission from an authorized agency official before discussing confidential information with journalists after leaving government service. Violations could expose former employees to civil or criminal penalties.
The draft states the NDA would not apply to whistleblower disclosures protected under federal law, including reports of fraud, abuse or misconduct made to government watchdogs or Congress.
Still, critics expressed concern that the broad language could discourage lawful whistleblower activity.
Ray Limon, a former federal attorney and human resources official, said the proposal appeared unusually expansive for the federal workforce, where NDAs have traditionally been limited largely to national security positions.
“It would be a big deal, absolutely,” Limon said, per NPR. “It’s been very, very limited in how they’ve been used.”
Limon also questioned whether the proposal could create confusion among federal employees about their rights under whistleblower protection laws.
“I just think it’s going to create a lot more confusion than necessary,” he said.
Gabe Rottman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press criticized the proposal as potentially harmful to press access.
“Aggressive efforts to stifle interactions between government employees and journalists ultimately threaten the public’s access to newsworthy information,” Rottman said, Reuters reported.
OPM Director Scott Kupor defended the proposal, comparing it to confidentiality agreements commonly used in private industry.
“In much of the private sector, employees handling sensitive business or customer information are routinely required to sign confidentiality agreements, and the federal government should not be held to a lower standard,” Kupor said in a statement.
