On May 27, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed new rules requiring all federal employees to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). The new NDA form seeks to “safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information,” feds may obtain through their official duties.

OPM cites a number of recent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information as the rationale for the new rule, including “leaks related to planned immigration enforcement operations, disclosures of confidential operational details prior to a U.S. action overseas, and the release of personal information belonging to approximately 4,500 ICE employees.”

“The proposed NDA does not create new substantive restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights,” according to the rule. “Rather, it is designed to provide agencies with a standardized mechanism for employees to acknowledge and agree to comply with obligations that already exist under law and regulation, while expressly preserving rights to make disclosures authorized by law, including protected whistleblower disclosures. The NDA also does not replace or nullify any other nondisclosure agreements an individual may be required to sign in connection with his or her position.”

The proposed rule would amend existing regulations to “emphasize the impact of noncompliance with nondisclosure obligations in suitability and fitness determinations,” meaning those who violate or refuse to sign it could be subject to termination.

In a blog post announcing the proposed rulemaking, OPM Director Scott Kupor noted much of the private sector requires similar NDAs. "This proposal reinforces accountability across the federal workforce while helping agencies better protect against unauthorized disclosures."

Others have taken a more critical view of the proposed rule.

“Taken alone, today’s proposed rule may seem relatively harmless, but taken in context, it is a significant move toward building a federal workforce loyal to the President above all else,” wrote David Kligerman with Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit law firm representing whistleblowers. American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President Everett Kelly called the rule an effort to silence federal employees saying the 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.”

OPM states the proposed template is “fully consistent with existing whistleblower protections under federal law. Employees would continue to retain all rights and protections afforded by statute related to lawful disclosures of waste, fraud, abuse, or misconduct.”

Comments on the proposed NDA rulemaking are due by June 26.