To stop leaks, Trump seeks federal worker NDAs

government-wide NDA – The Trump administration, through the Office of Personnel Management, has proposed a government-wide nondisclosure agreement for both new federal employees and current workers, arguing that recent leaks tied to immigration enforcement and a secretive raid on V

Washington has been watching leaks move through the government faster than ever—often with consequences that don’t stay inside briefing rooms.

The Trump administration now wants federal workers to sign a new. government-wide nondisclosure agreement. or NDA. for both new employees and those already serving. The plan is laid out by the Office of Personnel Management in a proposed rule scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

OPM points directly to recent disclosures involving immigration enforcement actions and what it describes as the secretive U.S. raid on Venezuela. In its proposal, the agency says those disclosures put the lives of federal agents and members of the armed forces at risk.

The proposal, however, does not mention what has emerged as the administration’s highest-profile internal leak so far: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s revelation over a Signal group chat of plans for a military strike on Yemen.

More than 2 million people work for the federal government, and they already operate under obligations to safeguard confidential and proprietary information obtained on the job.

OPM says its proposal “does not create new substantive restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights.” Instead, the agency frames the NDA as a standardized way for federal workers to acknowledge and agree to existing obligations.

But people familiar with how the federal workforce actually functions dispute that characterization. Ray Limon—who served as an attorney and human resources leader in the federal government for nearly three decades—calls the proposal “a new add-on” and says it appears broad. “This seems to be a new add-on that seems to be very, very broad in nature,” Limon said. “I’m just adding this to another tranche of measures that they’re taking to step on the throat of the employee.”.

OPM did not immediately respond to NPR’s questions about the proposed rule.

NDAs are common in some settings, but not for most

Nondisclosure agreements are widespread in the private sector and are already used selectively throughout the federal government. including areas tied to national security. Limon says the majority of civil servants—those who handle the unclassified. routine work of government—do not sign NDAs. even though they are bound by numerous restrictions on how they handle agency information.

Under the draft rule, agencies could decide for themselves whether to use the new agreements. Even so, Limon argues that a government-wide push would be unprecedented.

“It would be a big deal, absolutely,” he said. “It’s been very, very limited in how they’ve been used.”

The draft rule describes the NDA as covering information “relating to internal 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.”

That broad scope is where Limon says the real risk lies. He worries it could discourage federal employees from making lawful disclosures under the Whistleblower Protection Act, which protects workers from retaliation if they report government wrongdoing—such as fraud, waste, or abuse.

OPM says in the draft rule that federal employees will still have the right to make whistleblower disclosures, but Limon remains wary. “I just think it’s going to create a lot more confusion than necessary,” he said.

What happens if an employee refuses

The administration is also asking the public for input on how to handle refusals. The proposal invites comment on what actions the government should take against employees—new or existing—who refuse to sign an NDA.

Last year, in a separate draft rule, OPM suggested failure to sign an NDA could result in termination or debarment from future employment with the federal government.

Taken together. the proposal and the questions it raises point toward a shift in how the federal workforce may be required to handle information—one the administration says is meant to stop dangerous leaks. and one critics fear could extend far enough to unsettle the lines that whistleblowers rely on.

Trump administration Office of Personnel Management OPM nondisclosure agreement NDA federal employees whistleblower protection Whistleblower Protection Act Federal Register immigration enforcement leaks Venezuela raid Pete Hegseth