President Donald Trump’s administration is calling for all government agencies to adopt a sweeping nondisclosure agreement that would block federal employees from sharing what it dubs “Confidential Government Information.”

The Washington Post reported the draft notice on Tuesday, one day before it is set to be officially published.

The Office of Personnel Management said it wants to crack down on leaks of the aforementioned CGI, which it said includes “all non-public, confidential, or proprietary information” tied to internal agency operations. It would also cover info on “personnel matters, procurement processes, or any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material that is not currently publicly available and should not be disclosed under applicable law.”

The NDA plan will be open for a 30-day review period, and agencies “can decide whether to adopt the NDA.”

One big reason the NDA is necessary is because leaks put federal agents in “danger,” according to the draft. The draft pointed to “unauthorized disclosures” The New York Times and WaPo received earlier this year on the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, before it happened.

“These leaks put the lives of members of the armed forces at risk, leading news organizations to delay ‘publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops,'” the draft said. “Also this year, the personal information of approximately 4,500 ICE employees — including nearly 2,000 employees working in frontline enforcement — was disclosed by a Federal employee, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and job titles. This leak jeopardized the safety of the agents.”

The Washington Post wrote on Tuesday:

There are legal limitations to the use of NDAs in government. Under a federal law that protects whistleblowers, these agreements cannot limit a civil servant’s ability to expose waste, fraud and abuse.

The proposed rule would not apply to federal contractors, even though they have been responsible for several notable leaks, including public disclosure of tax records of wealthy Americans — including Trump — noted Don Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.

You can read the draft by clicking here.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!