Trump Wants a Gag Order for Every Single Government Worker

Amid widespread flagrant corruption happening throughout the government, Donald Trump is trying to impose a gag order on everyone who works in the executive branch.

Every. Single. Person.

This week, the Trump administration proposed a rule for a uniform, government-wide nondisclosure agreement. The draft version of the NDA is supposed to be opted into agency by agency. And while it says signing is “voluntary,” it concludes with a warning that employees can be fired and barred from future government jobs if they do not do so.1 The gag orders would be effective even after civil servants have left government employment—for five years post-departure—and violations come with the threat of criminal charges.

In short, in all but name it would be a loyalty oath to Trump.

Government workers are already bound by strict legal prohibitions against disclosing things like classified or privileged information, personal tax records, and other private administrative data. This vaguely written NDA, by contrast, would bar disclosure of all “non-public, confidential, or proprietary information” or “any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material” that’s not already publicly available and shouldn’t be released under “applicable law.”

Which sounds quite a bit like: Don’t you dare say anything that might be unflattering to this president—or else.

Given the other things the administration has done to eliminate sources of accountability, this gag order seems designed to hide and ultimately enable even more law-breaking across our federal government. It’s among the more alarming documents the Trump administration has produced, once you understand the context. Stick with me as I explain why.