Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

6-2026

Abstract

This comment critically responds to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) May 2026 proposal to implement a government-wide nondisclosure agreement (NDA) for federal workers. Drawing from our scholarship on workplace governance, employee mobility, whistleblowing, and information controls, we argue that the OPM’s proposal is inconsistent with growing recognition of the risks associated with broad workplace secrecy agreements. Recent federal and state reforms limiting the use of NDAs recognize that such agreements can deter reporting, suppress information of public concern, and impede litigants and government actors from prosecuting wrongdoing. TThese concerns are especially salient in the context of public employment, where transparency and oversight are essential to ensuring government accountability.

We argue that a government-wide NDA is unnecessary and potentially counterproductive. Federal employees are already subject to extensive statutory and regulatory obligations governing the protection of sensitive information, making an additional contract-based confidentiality regime of limited value. At the same time, a government-wide NDA risks creating a culture or secrecy that could chill lawful and necessary employee disclosures. The comment concludes that OPM should withdraw its proposal in light of these serious policy concerns.

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