ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL OPPOSES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSED NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL OPPOSES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSED NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

June 26, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a multistate coalition of 16 attorneys general in sending a comment letter opposing the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) proposed government-wide Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that would silence federal civil servants. The proposed NDA would have a chilling effect on federal employees by broadly defining what constitutes protected non-public information and threatening to remove, debar or criminally penalize civil servants for non-compliance with the NDA.

In their comment letter, Attorney General Raoul and the coalition urge the federal government to reconsider its proposal, which goes well beyond what is necessary to protect sensitive information.

"Federal employees serve the public, administering programs and services relied upon by all Americans," Raoul said. "The effort to impose NDAs on these vital public servants is an attempt by the Trump administration to silence dissent and incentivize loyalists who are only concerned with serving the president - not the public."

Raoul and the coalition argue in their comment letter that the proposed NDA for federal employees undermines their First Amendment right by creating a climate of fear and uncertainty around what they can say about the work of the federal government. The broad and ambiguous language, as well as the extreme penalties laid out in the OPM's NDA proposal, likely would discourage employees from speaking out about policies affecting the public. This may result in workers choosing to stay silent rather than risk discipline, termination or criminal penalties, even when their speech is constitutionally protected and serves the public interest.

In the comment letter, Raoul and the coalition assert that:

• The adoption of the type of sweeping, vague and punitive NDA that OPM proposes would infringe upon federal employees' First Amendment right to speak as citizens on matters of public concern.
• The NDA proposal would disrupt the flow of communication between federal agencies and state agencies that is fundamental to the functioning of state-operated programs and the provision of public services to our residents.
• States have been able to deter and address unlawful disclosures without using broadly worded, government-wide NDAs.
  

Raoul is joined in submitting the comments by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.