Trump Admin Proposes NDAs for Federal Workers to Curb Leaks

The Trump administration is advancing a proposal that would require all federal employees, both current and new, to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in an effort to curb leaks. According to multiple reports, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) posted a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday seeking comments on a draft NDA that federal agencies could use.

The proposed agreement aims to 'document Federal employees' acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information,' per PBS. The OPM emphasized that the NDA would not create new substantive restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights and would preserve employees' rights to make disclosures authorized by law.

The administration cited several recent instances of unauthorized disclosures related to rulemaking, policy development, and planned immigration enforcement actions. One notable case involved The New York Times and Washington Post receiving unauthorized information about a U.S. raid in Venezuela last January, which they delayed publishing to avoid endangering U.S. troops.

The proposed NDAs would cover a broad definition of 'confidential government information,' including internal agency operations, personnel matters, procurement processes, or any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material that is not currently publicly available. Agencies would have the option to choose whether to opt into the NDAs for their employees.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) urged the OPM to withdraw the draft, calling it an attempt to 'purge the civil service of nonpartisan career employees and replace them with loyalists who won’t speak out against waste, fraud, and abuse.' According to BBC News, Everett Kelley, national president of AFGE, asserted that OPM will pressure agencies to make the NDA mandatory and then fire employees who refuse to sign it.

Despite these concerns, federal law still prohibits government retaliation against workers who disclose fraud, abuse, and misconduct. The proposed NDA would not apply to such disclosures, as reported by The Guardian. However, former employees would need written permission from an authorized agency official to speak to journalists about information deemed 'confidential' after leaving their jobs.

The public will have 30 days to submit feedback on the proposed agreement before it can be finalized and deployed. The directive is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration against news outlets and media figures critical of him, including lawsuits, dismissing coverage as 'fake news,' and personally attacking journalists.

The Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) criticized the proposal, stating that it would 'kneecap whistleblower protections, undermine the First Amendment, and wrongly inhibit the public’s right to know.' The administration has also faced criticism for banning news outlets from press rooms and restricting reporters' access at the Pentagon.