By Courtney Rozen
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday proposed giving federal agencies the option to require employees to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent them from sharing confidential information with journalists, prompting criticism from press freedom advocates.
The Office of Personnel Management, the human resources office for the U.S. government, released a draft NDA designed for federal agencies to use with new and existing employees. Under the draft agreement, the administration could pursue civil and criminal penalties against employees who violate it. Agencies would decide whether to require an NDA.
The draft form is the latest step in the president’s effort to exert more control over U.S. government workers and punish news outlets and media figures he sees as too critical of him. Trump and members of his administration have filed at least five lawsuits against major media companies since his second term began, seeking tens of billions of dollars in damages for what he alleges are false or misleading reports. Courts have often sided with news organizations.
“Aggressive efforts to stifle interactions between government employees and journalists ultimately threaten the public’s access to newsworthy information,” said Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, about the proposed NDAs. The committee is a nonprofit that provides legal services to U.S. journalists.
The OPM, in a statement, referred to news articles from outlets such as Government Executive and Federal News Network about the Trump administration’s plans for government workers to justify the decision to draft NDAs for federal agencies.
“In much of the private sector, employees handling sensitive business or customer information are routinely required to sign confidentiality agreements, and the federal government should not be held to a lower standard,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor in a separate statement.
RULE VIOLATIONS COULD INCUR PENALTIES
Former government employees would need “written permission from an authorized agency official” to speak to journalists about information the Trump administration deems “confidential” after leaving their jobs, according to the draft. Former employees who violate that rule could face civil and criminal penalties, according to the draft.
The U.S. government would be entitled to all “royalties” that employees receive from disclosing information that violates the agreement, according to the draft. The OPM did not immediately offer further explanation.
This would not be the first time the Trump administration has asked federal workers to sign NDAs. The U.S. military under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked select officials to sign such agreements, including those involved with the president’s operations in Latin America, Reuters previously reported.
Federal law prohibits government retaliation against federal workers who disclose fraud, abuse and misconduct in their workplaces to internal government watchdogs and Congress. The NDA would not apply to those disclosures, according to the draft agreement.
Trump has routinely dismissed critical coverage as “fake news” and personally attacked journalists. His administration banned the Associated Press from the White House press pool and restricted reporters’ access at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. military, among other moves.
Meanwhile, the Department of State, in an email to employees seen by Reuters, said the White House app would be automatically installed on “all mobile phones throughout the executive branch.” Government Executive first reported on the plan to install the app, which includes livestreams of Trump’s speeches and his social media posts.
White House spokesperson Olivia Wales declined to confirm to Reuters that the White House pushed agencies to install the app on government-issued phones.
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Rod Nickel)
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