{"id":13193,"date":"2026-05-26T22:13:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/26\/trump-administration-pushes-governmentwide-nda-for-federal-employees-federal-news-network\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:13:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:13:38","slug":"trump-administration-pushes-governmentwide-nda-for-federal-employees-federal-news-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/26\/trump-administration-pushes-governmentwide-nda-for-federal-employees-federal-news-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration pushes governmentwide NDA for federal employees – Federal News Network"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Federal employees may soon have to sign strict non-disclosure agreements, according to a new governmentwide proposal from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday released plans to create a standardized NDA for all federal employees, in an attempt to stop government documents from being leaked to the press or otherwise made public.<\/p>\n

The NDA applies to federal information including, but not limited to, \u201cinternal 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,\u201d OPM said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA standard NDA form will promote consistency across government, better protect confidential information and better inform federal employees of their rights and obligations regarding confidential information,\u201d OPM said in its proposal<\/a>, which will be published to the Federal Register Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Under the proposal, all agencies would decide whether to mandate their employees to sign OPM\u2019s NDA. The requirements would apply to both current employees and new hires at agencies that opt in.<\/p>\n

The requirement of signing the NDA would be included in forthcoming agency job announcements. And signed forms would be saved as part of employees\u2019 electronic Official Personnel Folders (eOPFs).<\/p>\n

The agreement would not add further restrictions on employees, OPM said, but instead document employees\u2019 acknowledgement of existing non-disclosure obligations. OPM said the NDA would not restrict or supersede whistleblower protections. Employees would also still be able to disclose instances of fraud, waste and abuse to Congress or an inspector general office, according to the proposal.<\/p>\n

The American Federation of Government Employees called OPM\u2019s proposal an attempt to silence and purge nonpartisan civil servants who speak out about wrongdoing at their agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cOPM claims the form will be \u2018optional\u2019 for agencies to use and merely restates existing law. We know that will not be true,\u201d AFGE National President Everett Kelley said Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cOPM will pressure agencies to make the NDA mandatory and then fire employees who refuse to sign it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A draft version of the NDA<\/a>, published on Tuesday, outlines parameters of the legally binding agreement. It includes a provision stating that confidential information should only be used for \u201cperforming official duties and responsibilities.\u201d Employees who sign the NDA would also agree to \u201cpromptly\u201d notify their agency of any unauthorized disclosures they suspect or become aware of.<\/p>\n

The NDAs would remain in place even after federal employees change jobs or employers, unless given written permission from an authorized agency official for a disclosure \u2014 and even then, disclosures may still contain redacted information.<\/p>\n

Violations of the NDA could result in disciplinary action, including terminations or civil and criminal penalties for federal employees, the draft agreement states.<\/p>\n

OPM cited recent instances of internal agency documents and draft government regulations being leaked to the press, including a March 2025 Federal News Network article<\/a> on OPM\u2019s proposal to revise suitability and fitness regulations for the federal workforce.<\/p>\n

The proposal also pointed to recent disclosures made to news outlets related to immigration enforcement actions, the identities of about 4,500 ICE employees and plans surrounding the U.S. military strike on Venezuela earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The draft NDA aligns with a separate OPM proposal amending suitability and fitness regulations for federal employees. In June 2025, OPM said current employees would fall short of suitability standards if they fail to \u201ccomply with generally applicable legal obligations,\u201d including failure to certify compliance with non-disclosure agreements. The 2025 proposal, at the time, raised concerns<\/a> of a chilling effect on federal employees\u2019 willingness to report disclosures to Congress or the Office of Special Counsel.<\/p>\n

Certain federal employees are already subject to NDAs and other agreements restricting the release of government intelligence, often in cases involving classified information. The agreements are meant to help safeguard national security and sensitive information.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgencies already have extensive policies and procedures in place for preventing the unauthorized release of classified or privileged information,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cThis proposed rule sweeps in an extraordinarily broad category of information, extending restrictions to the very material the public relies on to learn when an administration is causing harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

There may also be significant legal implications for federal employees who are required to sign NDAs. Before signing a non-disclosure agreement, employees should consider the scope of information covered in the NDA, the duration and the types of prohibited activities involved, attorneys have recommended<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michael Fallings, managing partner at Tully Rinckey, said the proposed governmentwide NDA is broader than typical federal employee agreements, which tend to more specifically state what type of information cannot be disclosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are removed from their jobs for violating or allegedly violating this NDA, it will certainly lead to litigation,\u201d Fallings said. \u201cUnderstand the rights you do have, including your First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a continued effort to ensure federal employees are complying with this administration\u2019s rules and regulations \u2014 any non-compliance could be seen as a cause for removal,\u201d Fallings added. \u201cIt\u2019s adding a condition for employees to meet. And not meeting those conditions could cause employees not to be hired, or if they are hired and they violate this, then to be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has taken other steps attempting to block federal employees from sharing information with the press. Earlier this year, the FBI searched a Washington Post reporter\u2019s home<\/a> as part of an investigation into a federal contractor accused of retaining classified documents. And in 2025, officials at agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security began administering polygraph tests to employees in an attempt to identify press leaks.<\/p>\n

OPM is requesting feedback on what the scope of the proposed NDA should cover; if the NDA clearly indicates what information is subject to the requirements; if there is sufficient notice for impacted employees; and how agencies should address instances of employees refusing to sign the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans should be able to trust that their personal data and sensitive government information are being handled responsibly,\u201d OPM Director Scott Kupor said. \u201cThis proposal reinforces accountability across the federal workforce while helping agencies better protect against unauthorized disclosures.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com<\/a> or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9\u00a02026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal employees may soon have to sign strict non-disclosure agreements, according to a new governmentwide proposal from the Trump administration. The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday released plans to create a standardized NDA for all federal employees, in an attempt to stop government documents from being leaked to the press or otherwise made public. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}