President Donald Trump wants everyone in government to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Federal employees see it as another attempt by his administration to intimidate them.
The Office of Personnel Management on Wednesday published in the Federal Register a proposal to have civil servants sign a governmentwide NDA. The measure is designed to have new and existing employees acknowledge and agree with laws already in place to safeguard “non-public, confidential, or proprietary information.”
If those employees break the NDA — or refuse to sign it — they could be fired by their agencies.
The new push is part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to crack down on leaks surrounding policy moves and to further realign the federal workforce. The proposal cites unauthorized leaks to outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post tied to military operations.
Federal workers are already well aware of the restrictions on what they can share with the public, said Stephanie Rapp-Tully, a partner at law firm Tully Rinckey.
“Government employees can’t just share work information willy-nilly,” said Rapp-Tully, an expert in federal employment law. “But the way that this is written — and the potential repercussions that could come from this — could have a chilling effect, absolutely, on government employees who feel scared to become a whistleblower.”
POLITICO’s E&E News talked to 13 federal employees about the governmentwide NDA proposal. Granted anonymity because...
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