President Donald Trump’s administration wants federal workers to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). The move is part of a wider crackdown on leaks to the media.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed a draft NDA that would apply to all current and future federal employees. The agency posted the notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday, opening it for public comment. The form, if adopted, would require workers to acknowledge their legal obligations to protect non-public or confidential information obtained through their official duties — while preserving their right to make legally authorised disclosures.
Donald Trump’s administration wants federal employees to sign NDAs
The OPM’s notice asked for public input on several key questions, including whether the NDA should cover only unclassified information and what steps agencies should take if an employee refuses to sign.
The agency cited “several recent instances” of unauthorised disclosures, pointing specifically to FBI and Department of Homeland Security employees who leaked details about planned immigration enforcement actions. The OPM also referenced the US raid on Venezuela in January, in which the New York Times and Washington Post reportedly received advance information and held back publication to avoid endangering troops
The Times pushed back on that characterisation. Charles Stadtlander, the paper’s executive director of media relations, said the outlet had not verified details of the operation to capture Maduro, had no story prepared, and did not hold back at the request of the Trump administration.
The proposal has been criticised by labour groups. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, called it part of a broader effort to silence civil servants. “This proposed NDA is another attempt by the administration to purge the civil service of nonpartisan career employees and replace them with loyalists who won’t speak out against waste, fraud, and abuse,” Kelley said.
The NDA push is not the first move against leaks under Donald Trump. In January, the FBI seized electronic devices belonging to a Washington Post reporter. Separately, dozens of reporters surrendered their Pentagon access badges after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth introduced rules that could see journalists expelled for reporting on unapproved information (Source: WHYY).
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory
