The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued a significant proposal that could reshape how federal agencies address confidentiality obligations across the federal workforce. In a notice seeking public comment, OPM released a draft governmentwide nondisclosure agreement (NDA) intended for use with both new and existing federal employees. Comments are due by June 26, 2026.
Although the proposal is directed at federal civilian employees, the initiative carries important implications for government contractors — particularly those that regularly exchange sensitive, proprietary, procurement-sensitive, or pre-decisional information with federal agencies.
The proposal reflects the federal government’s growing concern over unauthorized disclosures of internal government information and signals a broader emphasis on workforce integrity, confidentiality compliance, and information control across the federal enterprise.
What the Proposed NDA Would Do
According to OPM, the proposed NDA is intended to create a standardized form that agencies may use to document employees’ acknowledgment of existing legal obligations to protect “confidential government information.” OPM emphasizes that the form does not create new substantive restrictions on speech or disclosure rights. Instead, it is designed to memorialize obligations that already exist under federal law and regulations while expressly preserving lawful whistleblower disclosures.
OPM defines “confidential government information” broadly to include non-public, confidential, or proprietary information relating to internal agency operations, personnel matters, procurement processes, and sensitive pre-decisional or deliberative materials. The NDA would become part of an employee’s electronic official personnel folder (eOPF) and would follow employees throughout federal service.
OPM expects agencies choosing to use the form to require execution during onboarding and potentially for existing employees as well. Agencies also could disclose the requirement in vacancy announcements for new hires.
Why OPM Is Taking Action
The notice repeatedly emphasizes recent high-profile leaks involving sensitive government information. OPM cites unauthorized disclosures involving immigration enforcement operations, internal rulemaking deliberations, military operations, and disclosure of personally identifiable information belonging to federal personnel. The proposal also references the leak of a Supreme Court opinion draft in the abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization as an example of the risks associated with unauthorized disclosures of sensitive deliberative materials. OPM frames the NDA initiative as part of a broader federal workforce integrity effort tied to Executive Order 14210, which directs OPM to revise suitability regulations to address integrity-related conduct and refusal to certify compliance with nondisclosure obligations.
Why Government Contractors Should Pay Attention
Although the proposed NDA formally applies to federal employees rather than contractor personnel, contractors should not view this development in isolation. The proposal specifically identifies procurement-related information as covered “confidential government information.” Contractors routinely receive or generate procurement-sensitive information during procurements, contract performance, source selections, audits, investigations, and disputes. The initiative signals heightened government sensitivity regarding source selection information, acquisition planning materials, proprietary contractor information, and internal agency communications. The proposal may also foreshadow increased scrutiny of contractor internal controls relating to confidentiality, records handling, and dissemination of non-public government information. Many contractors already operate under extensive confidentiality obligations arising from the FAR, DFARS, organizational conflict of interest requirements, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) obligations, cybersecurity requirements, and agency-specific safeguarding provisions. OPM’s initiative may reinforce agency expectations that contractors maintain robust internal compliance programs governing the handling of sensitive government information.
The most direct exposure may be for contractors whose personnel work embedded inside federal agencies. Those individuals routinely have access to the same pre-decisional, procurement-sensitive, and deliberative materials covered by the proposed NDA. Contractors should anticipate that agencies may begin requiring contractor personnel to execute similar confidentiality agreements as a condition of facility access or program participation — some agencies already do this informally. Contracts and onboarding procedures should be reviewed with this risk in mind.
Prime contractors that share government-furnished information with subcontractors or teaming partners also face downstream exposure. If agency expectations around confidentiality tighten, primes may need to revisit their subcontract confidentiality clauses and flow-down provisions to ensure they adequately reflect the government’s evolving standards.
Another notable aspect of the proposal is OPM’s repeated emphasis that the NDA preserves disclosures “authorized by law,” including protected whistleblower disclosures. That language appears designed to avoid concerns that the NDA could improperly chill lawful reporting activity. Government contractors should pay close attention to how OPM ultimately balances confidentiality protections against whistleblower safeguards because similar tensions frequently arise in contractor internal investigations, employment agreements, and compliance programs.
Contractors should therefore consider whether existing confidentiality agreements, employee policies, and internal investigation protocols appropriately preserve protected disclosure rights under statutes such as the False Claims Act and other federal whistleblower protection regimes.
OPM’s Request for Public Comment
OPM is soliciting comments on a broad range of implementation issues, including the appropriate scope of covered information, whether the NDA should apply only to unclassified information, the adequacy of the Privacy Act disclosures, and the potential consequences for employees who refuse to sign the agreement.
The breadth of these questions suggests that OPM is actively considering how aggressively the policy should be implemented and enforced. The agency is also seeking feedback on whether the NDA clearly communicates employee rights and obligations and whether agencies should retain flexibility to customize portions of the form.
Key Takeaways
The proposed NDA represents another example of the federal government’s increasing focus on workforce integrity, information security, and control of sensitive government information. Although directed at federal employees, the initiative may foreshadow broader expectations regarding how both agencies and contractors safeguard non-public government information.
Government contractors should consider reviewing existing policies governing confidentiality obligations, procurement-sensitive information, internal dissemination controls, employee training, and whistleblower carve-outs in employment or confidentiality agreements. Contractors operating in defense, homeland security, intelligence, healthcare, civilian IT, and other highly regulated sectors should monitor this development closely, as agencies may increasingly expect contractors to demonstrate robust controls over sensitive government information.
Comments on the proposed NDA are due by June 26, 2026.
