The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed federal workers be required to sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).
The proposal, filed with the Federal Register and open for public comment, would apply to both new and existing federal employees.
The big picture: The NDA is intended to reinforce employees’ obligations to safeguard confidential, non-public, and proprietary government information obtained through official duties.
- The policy emphasizes that while information should be protected, it does not restrict disclosures authorized by law, preserving whistleblower and legal reporting rights.
- The definition of “confidential government information” in the NDA includes sensitive internal operations, personnel matters, procurement, and deliberative materials not publicly available.
Zoom in; Federal employees are already restricted from sharing personal or non-public information by the Privacy Act of 1974 and the 1993 Standards of Ethical Conduct.
Driving the news: OPM justified the proposal by referencing recent leaks, such as those from FBI and Homeland Security staff about immigration enforcement operations.
- The agency specifically cited leaks to The New York Times and The Washington Post about the U.S. raid that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, arguing these disclosures put service members’ lives at risk.
- The news outlets delayed publishing sensitive information until after the raid to avoid endangering personnel.
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