Trump administration proposes governmentwide NDA amid leaks

• The Office of Personnel Management proposed a governmentwide nondisclosure agreement in part to "better protect confidential information."
• The proposal follows numerous leaks within the administration, including those related to the rescue of two American airmen in Iran and immigration enforcement operations.
• The agency is seeking the public's input on topics including the scope of the agreement and what should happen if an employee declines to sign it.

President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking public input on a proposal to have federal workers sign a nondisclosure agreement amid an ongoing battle with leaks.  

The Office of Personnel Management’s May 26 draft notice, which is set to be published in the Federal Register on May 27, said it “believes a governmentwide NDA form will promote consistency across Government, better protect confidential information, and better inform Federal employees of their rights and obligations regarding confidential information.” 

The draft agreement said violating its provisions could result in civil and criminal penalties.

The draft notice referenced several leak incidents, including those related to the United States’ raid in Venezuela in January and the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement operations.  

“Such disclosures risk chilling candid interagency feedback, disrupting orderly decision-making and weaking trust within and among federal agencies,” it said.  

Trump has condemned leaks himself, saying in April that his administration was “looking very hard” to find the person who leaked information related to the successful operation to rescue American airmen whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran.  

"We're ‌going ⁠to go to the media company that released it, and we're going to say, 'National security, give it up or go to jail,'" Trump said at a press conference in April.

The FBI executed what press freedom advocates described as an unprecedented search of a Washington Post reporter’s home in January as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified documents. Various administration officials similarly characterized the matter as a national security issue.  

The draft notice also referenced the U.S. Supreme Court implementing nondisclosure agreements for employees following a bombshell leak in 2022 that revealed the justices were set to overturn Roe v. Wade, which recognized the constitutional right to an abortion.  

Violations could result in removal, debarment

The draft notice said the proposed agreement “does not create new substantive restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights.”  

"Rather, it is designed to provide agencies with a standardized mechanism for employees to acknowledge and agree to comply with obligations that already exist under law and regulation, while expressly preserving rights to make disclosures authorized by law, including protected whistleblower disclosures,” it said. 

The draft agreement said protecting confidential information is a “continuing personal obligation” for federal employees, even if they change jobs or employers. Such information can only be disclosed with written permission from an agency official, it said, and the information must not “compromise or impede the Agency’s mission” or “contain or compromise national security, classified or other information prohibited from disclosure by law.” 

The Office of Personnel Management said it expects federal agencies will be able to choose whether to implement the form. Those that opt-in would distribute the form to both new hires and current employees.  

Not signing the form “may result in removal from federal service and potential debarment,” the draft agreement said.  

The draft notice said the Office of Personnel Management was specifically seeking the public’s input on topics including what information the NDA should protect and what should happen if a federal employee declines to sign it.

The draft notice said the office would “consider all comments received on or before the closing date,” which is 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Members of the public can submit comments through the federal government’s eRulemaking platform. 

BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected]. 

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