Washington– The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, as part of an ongoing campaign against leaks to the media.
The notice in the Federal Register issued by the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday requested comment on a draft nondisclosure agreement that federal agencies will use “for both new and existing employees.”
“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment and agreement to comply with existing legal obligations to protect nonpublic, confidential, or proprietary information created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly maintaining the right to disclosure permitted by law,” the notice said.
OPM cited “several recent instances” in which internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization. It also discussed specific cases in which federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security disclosed information without authorization about planned immigration enforcement actions.
In one case, The New York Times and The Washington Post received unauthorized information about the US raid on Venezuela last January, and delayed “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US forces,” according to a DPI request for comment.
Representatives for the New York Times and Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Detecting leaks that the administration considers harmful to its messaging has been a priority across multiple agencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. As part of this campaign, the FBI in January seized the electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter, a move that alarmed media organizations and press freedom advocates.
Another notable incident occurred Last year when dozens of reporters turned in their badges to the Pentagon, rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to being fired if they sought to report information — classified or otherwise — Hegseth did not agree to be published.
The American Federation of Government Employees did not immediately respond to requests for comment.