Trump administration proposes NDAs for federal employees to stop media leaks

A proposed notice from the Office of Personnel Management seeks public comment on a draft non-disclosure agreement for federal agencies to use with both new and existing employees. The agreement would document acknowledgment of and agreement to comply with legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information created or obtained through official duties. The notice states the agreement would expressly preserve the right to make disclosures authorized by law. The notice asks whether the NDA should cover only unclassified information and what actions agencies should consider if employees choose not to sign. The notice cites recent unauthorized disclosures involving internal communications and planned immigration enforcement actions, including information provided to major newspapers about a U.S. raid on Venezuela.

"The form is intended to document Federal employees' acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law."

"The proposed notice seeks comment on several questions, including whether the NDA should cover only unclassified information and what appropriate actions, if any, agencies should consider for new or current employees who choose not to sign the agreement."

"The OPM noted "several recent instances" where internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization. It also discussed specific instances in which federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security disclosed information about planned immigration enforcement actions without authorization."

"In one case, The New York Times and The Washington Post received unauthorized information on the U.S. raid on Venezuela this past January and delayed "publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops," the OPM request for comment said."

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles