Understanding Trump’s Government-Wide NDA Proposal

(SeaPRwire) –   The Trump Administration is putting forward a proposal that would mandate all government employees to sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) barring them from disclosing sensitive information, according to a draft notice published on the Federal Register by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The regulation would apply to both new hires and current government staff, the draft states, noting that the goal of the proposed NDAs is “to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information.” 

As the draft notice points out, federal employees are already restricted from sharing certain types of information. However, OPM provided an expansive definition in the draft of “confidential government information” covered by the NDAs—including, but not limited to, the document notes, “details about internal agency operations, personnel matters, procurement processes, or any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material not currently available to the public.” Unauthorized disclosures of such information, the draft asserts, “disrupt agency operations and erode public trust.”

Notably, individual agencies would have the option to choose whether to implement these NDAs for their employees. 

“In much of the private sector, employees handling sensitive business or customer data are routinely required to sign confidentiality agreements, and the federal government should not be held to a lower standard,” OPM Director Scott Kupor stated on Tuesday. “Americans deserve to trust that their personal data and sensitive government information are being managed responsibly. This proposal reinforces accountability across the federal workforce while helping agencies better protect against unauthorized disclosures.”

The proposed rule would not replace or invalidate existing NDAs that government workers may be required to sign under their agencies’ policies, the draft notes, adding that employees would retain the “right to make disclosures authorized by law.” It does not specify penalties for workers who release confidential information covered by the NDAs. Existing laws—including the 2012 Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act—prohibit NDAs from limiting whistleblowers’ ability to report government fraud, waste, or abuse. 

OPM told TIME in a statement that “the consequences for violating the agreement haven’t been determined; this is still open for public comment.” A 30-day public comment period for the proposed rule will begin on Wednesday, when the draft notice is published.

In the draft notice, the agency cited several recent leaks during the second Trump Administration. For example, last year, unauthorized disclosures of immigration enforcement plans by FBI and DHS employees “impeded federal law enforcement and put the lives of federal agents in danger,” the document says.

Another instance referenced in the draft involves The New York Times and Washington Post obtaining confidential details about the U.S. operation in Venezuela in January that led to the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro. OPM, citing Semafor reporting, noted that “these leaks put the lives of armed forces members at risk, leading news organizations to delay ‘publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops.’” 

The Trump Administrations have previously attempted to curb the flow of sensitive or confidential information from federal agencies using NDAs. 

During his first term, Trump reportedly had his senior staff sign NDAs. More recently, in April of last year, the Veterans Affairs Department required employees working on plans to cut tens of thousands of staff members—part of the Administration’s broader effort to reduce the federal workforce—to sign NDAs. (Those plans were later canceled.) The Washington Post reported in October that the Pentagon planned to impose NDAs on its workers, along with random polygraph tests.

The Trump Administrations have also filed lawsuits against multiple individuals accused of disclosing classified or NDA-covered information. During Trump’s first term, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued former national security adviser John Bolton in 2020 over his book “The Room Where it Happened,” alleging it contained “classified national security information.” Later that year, the DOJ sued First Lady Melania Trump’s former adviser Stephanie Winston Wolkoff over her tell-all book “Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady,” claiming she breached an NDA signed in 2017. The department dropped both lawsuits after President Joe Biden took office, as well as a criminal inquiry into the publication of Bolton’s book.