The administration that accidentally leaked military strike plans in a group chat now wants federal employees legally warned not to talk to journalists.
According to a draft notice posted Tuesday by the Office of Personnel Management, the Trump administration is preparing a sweeping government-wide nondisclosure agreement aimed at silencing federal workers from sharing government information with the press.
As reported by the Washington Post, the proposal would create a standardized NDA for federal employees across the government — and critics say it looks less like routine bureaucracy and more like an attempt to intimidate workers into silence.
Especially after months of leaks, internal chaos, whistleblower complaints, court battles, and embarrassing headlines surrounding Trump’s second administration.
The irony is difficult to overstate. Last year, senior administration officials accidentally included a journalist from The Atlantic in a private group chat discussing active military strike plans using an app the Pentagon had reportedly already warned was vulnerable to foreign surveillance.
Now the same administration wants rank-and-file federal workers threatened with NDAs for speaking to reporters.
Apparently operational security only matters when lower-level employees are involved.
The proposal also arrives after federal investigations revealed operatives connected to the administration’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” improperly accessed and shared sensitive government data while embedded inside federal agencies.
So the administration that keeps leaking, mishandling, and exposing information now wants everyone else gagged.
The American Federation of Government Employees — the nation’s largest federal employee union — blasted the proposal Tuesday, calling it an effort to purge nonpartisan civil servants and replace them with political loyalists unwilling to expose misconduct.
AFGE President Everett Kelley warned the administration is attempting to silence employees who report “waste, fraud, and abuse” while undermining basic protections for career government workers.
“Federal employees do not surrender their First Amendment rights when they accept federal employment,” Kelley said.
That may be exactly what makes this proposal so controversial.
Because governments don’t usually roll out sweeping silence agreements when things are running smoothly.
