Excellent analysis. Though I am loathe to make another parallel between this administration and 20th C fascist European regimes, this is exactly what they did. Moreover, may I make what seems like a naive statement for this era: in this democratic republic, the elected government works for the American people, not the other way round. We have been so inundated that we lose sight of the very simple constitutional provision that we the people are the "boss", and those whom we elect work for us, therefore they are all accountable to a person, to every one of us. By a simple constitutional argument, non-disclosure agreements for public servants are anathema. They are by definition unconstitutional. I wish some wonderful judge, when the lawsuits begin over this, finds the statute and rules that simply and elegantly against this ridiculous attempt to abet the ongoing, fascist coup. I mean this is the absolute definition of a constitutional crisis right here.
As a retired Federal Civil servant who became a whistleblower, this illegal idea needs to get beaten into the ground by all - I was a Contracting Officer - I did my best to spend our hard earned tax dollars the best I could - I was directed to make an illegal contract happen and I became a whistleblower after that. I was to have been Senator David Pryor's (D, Arkansas) recommended as person for me to contact by A Ernest (Ernie) Fitzgerald when I called him in his Pentagon office, witness in the spring of 1995 Senator Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing. Unfortunately, Republicans took over Senate in 1994 Ginrich Revolution election and Ted Stevens of Alaska became the subcommittee chair and there was no hearing on contract fraud; since Stevens had no interest in exposing that at all. This is totally unConstitutional, but just what Trump wants, a silent Civil Service who dares not tell anyone about what is illegally being done in their offices.
I’m a current fed who’s really grappling with what to do if/when presented with an NDA. I hope I have the nerve to tell them to fire me, then, ‘cause I ain’t signing nothing.
The purpose of an NDA is to protects a company’s secrets. But (obviously?) federal employees don’t work for a company. They work for us. How decisions get made, how money gets spent, how rules get enforced, that’s our information. Not the administration’s.
Forcing NDAs on federal workers doesn’t just scare whistleblowers, it attempts to convert public information into executive branch property.
There's no legal nuance here, it's an another lie about who this government serves.
a friend sent me your article. thank you - you explained the issues so well. i've shared the OPM notice with some former colleagues who are still working for the federal govt. i am retired from federal govt - whew. i read through the FR and the form - so vague. and the FR doesn't begin to describe the possible consequences-many would not even read the form. if i was presented with this to sign, i'd have to consult with an attorney first.
i sent your article to a friend still in gov't - may help them with their decision about continued employment.
Sentences in English begin with a capital letter. This is for readability - not some random affectation. You capitalized several acronyms so you apparently know how to do that.
It is my observation that policies to prevent leaking are not enforced against the folks who occupy the highest posts in government. Indeed, leaking by top executive branch and White House officials is an age-old games. When one reads of individuals being prosecuted for leaking they almost always are lower-tier employees and contractors. So, the notion that leaks will be stopped through NDA's seems fanciful.
I just tried to submit my comments but I got a "submission error" notice. I'll try again later today. Thanks for providing the link since that makes it so easy.
That "submission error" notice... I keep getting those ~ a LOT!! I also get "clicked off" while typing comments on my dumb phone... just, "poof" & it's gone! Plus, am not on that site anymore, nor can I find my way back to it; like it "disappeared"!🤬 Grrrrrr!! Got so mad 1x that I slammed my Samsung phone down on countertop & phone ttrned-off. Got power on...corner of screen started turning purple & by morning the whole screen was solid dark purple!! "No more Samsung" ~ it was a good little phone, a b'day gift. Someone said I "killed the motherboard"!! I'm an older woman (as in retired) & NOT at all tech-savvy!! Had to get a new phone ~ traumatizing to folks like me!! Bought a "Moto" at WalMart - this phone - 1yr ago & now, this phone has all kinds of 'weirdness' happening like that!! 🤬"WAY WORSE!!" Those 'submission errors'; didn't know there's a name for what that is!!? Until now, thought it was just this phone? Someone took a look in phone & said it's a 2008!... been refurbished a few times (4-5?). "Failed to post" has become a phrase I REALLY HATE!!! 🤬💩 Only recently that I felt sure there's a reason, judging from which things just disappear in cyberspace!! Sounds like I'm crazy, but I assure you, I'm not!
I NEED A NEW PHONE!! Don't know anyone to help me with Tech-sh*t, so buying a new phone is a TRAUMATIC thing!!
Thanks for mentioning "submission errors!!"
....It's not just me!
...& is a real thing!
....Thank God! [I think]
❓❓...1,000,000 questions flood my brain now⁉️...Iike, can I safely transfer my stuff from this phone to a new one??
Simply put...your ( our) hands are tied the moment you sign these NDAs...You are being coersed to keep your mouth shut....no matter what the possible consequences are...thereby also making you complicit to 'bad behaviors', (please ignore any misspellings...)
Lot of incorrect comments in the section referring to a government of the people, by the people, for the people:
“elected government works FOR the American people”
“federal employees work FOR us”
“How decisions get made, how money gets spent, how rules get enforced, that’s our information. Not the administration’s.”
Where in the constitution are you getting this? The preamble of the constitution speaks to “we the people” blessing the new arrangement of government, which serves the UNION. It doesn’t allude to the federal government working FOR the citizens. Further into the constitution, Article 1/Section 8 speaks to supporting the “general welfare of the United States”…..doesn’t mention answering to the people.
We have thousands of democracies contained within the United States if you want a government that serves and answers to the people.
So the Constitution is all about forming an authoritarian government not responsive to the people it is presumed to serve? "We the People of the United States......"
If the government follows the spirit and text of the constitution, it can’t be authoritarian,…at least not domestically. Foreign matters could be a different issue.
When reading the preamble – “We the people” – I only see that it ordains the arrangement outlined in the constitution and nothing about the people controlling the government or the government serving the wants of the people.
If we want the federal government to serve the wants or will of the people, we would have to change the constitution through an amendment. Otherwise, it is authoritarian for the federal government to serve the will of the people in a free society when there are already many institutions designed to serve the people.
Excellent analysis. Though I am loathe to make another parallel between this administration and 20th C fascist European regimes, this is exactly what they did. Moreover, may I make what seems like a naive statement for this era: in this democratic republic, the elected government works for the American people, not the other way round. We have been so inundated that we lose sight of the very simple constitutional provision that we the people are the "boss", and those whom we elect work for us, therefore they are all accountable to a person, to every one of us. By a simple constitutional argument, non-disclosure agreements for public servants are anathema. They are by definition unconstitutional. I wish some wonderful judge, when the lawsuits begin over this, finds the statute and rules that simply and elegantly against this ridiculous attempt to abet the ongoing, fascist coup. I mean this is the absolute definition of a constitutional crisis right here.
As a retired Federal Civil servant who became a whistleblower, this illegal idea needs to get beaten into the ground by all - I was a Contracting Officer - I did my best to spend our hard earned tax dollars the best I could - I was directed to make an illegal contract happen and I became a whistleblower after that. I was to have been Senator David Pryor's (D, Arkansas) recommended as person for me to contact by A Ernest (Ernie) Fitzgerald when I called him in his Pentagon office, witness in the spring of 1995 Senator Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing. Unfortunately, Republicans took over Senate in 1994 Ginrich Revolution election and Ted Stevens of Alaska became the subcommittee chair and there was no hearing on contract fraud; since Stevens had no interest in exposing that at all. This is totally unConstitutional, but just what Trump wants, a silent Civil Service who dares not tell anyone about what is illegally being done in their offices.
I’m a current fed who’s really grappling with what to do if/when presented with an NDA. I hope I have the nerve to tell them to fire me, then, ‘cause I ain’t signing nothing.
Civil servants are VERY alarmed about this.
(And tired. We are so, so tired.)
🫶
We citizens are so, so worried about you, federal employees. You sacrifice to work for us while you are abused and intimidated.
Spouse of retired Fed with two BILs who are also retired Feds.
The purpose of an NDA is to protects a company’s secrets. But (obviously?) federal employees don’t work for a company. They work for us. How decisions get made, how money gets spent, how rules get enforced, that’s our information. Not the administration’s.
Forcing NDAs on federal workers doesn’t just scare whistleblowers, it attempts to convert public information into executive branch property.
There's no legal nuance here, it's an another lie about who this government serves.
Yes!! What you said!! 🎯🎯🎯
a friend sent me your article. thank you - you explained the issues so well. i've shared the OPM notice with some former colleagues who are still working for the federal govt. i am retired from federal govt - whew. i read through the FR and the form - so vague. and the FR doesn't begin to describe the possible consequences-many would not even read the form. if i was presented with this to sign, i'd have to consult with an attorney first.
i sent your article to a friend still in gov't - may help them with their decision about continued employment.
Sentences in English begin with a capital letter. This is for readability - not some random affectation. You capitalized several acronyms so you apparently know how to do that.
And this helps him, how??? His choice...it makes him noticed...
It is my observation that policies to prevent leaking are not enforced against the folks who occupy the highest posts in government. Indeed, leaking by top executive branch and White House officials is an age-old games. When one reads of individuals being prosecuted for leaking they almost always are lower-tier employees and contractors. So, the notion that leaks will be stopped through NDA's seems fanciful.
Haha, Don. I saw what you did there. 😏 (Thanks for the information.)
I just tried to submit my comments but I got a "submission error" notice. I'll try again later today. Thanks for providing the link since that makes it so easy.
That "submission error" notice... I keep getting those ~ a LOT!! I also get "clicked off" while typing comments on my dumb phone... just, "poof" & it's gone! Plus, am not on that site anymore, nor can I find my way back to it; like it "disappeared"!🤬 Grrrrrr!! Got so mad 1x that I slammed my Samsung phone down on countertop & phone ttrned-off. Got power on...corner of screen started turning purple & by morning the whole screen was solid dark purple!! "No more Samsung" ~ it was a good little phone, a b'day gift. Someone said I "killed the motherboard"!! I'm an older woman (as in retired) & NOT at all tech-savvy!! Had to get a new phone ~ traumatizing to folks like me!! Bought a "Moto" at WalMart - this phone - 1yr ago & now, this phone has all kinds of 'weirdness' happening like that!! 🤬"WAY WORSE!!" Those 'submission errors'; didn't know there's a name for what that is!!? Until now, thought it was just this phone? Someone took a look in phone & said it's a 2008!... been refurbished a few times (4-5?). "Failed to post" has become a phrase I REALLY HATE!!! 🤬💩 Only recently that I felt sure there's a reason, judging from which things just disappear in cyberspace!! Sounds like I'm crazy, but I assure you, I'm not!
I NEED A NEW PHONE!! Don't know anyone to help me with Tech-sh*t, so buying a new phone is a TRAUMATIC thing!!
Thanks for mentioning "submission errors!!"
....It's not just me!
...& is a real thing!
....Thank God! [I think]
❓❓...1,000,000 questions flood my brain now⁉️...Iike, can I safely transfer my stuff from this phone to a new one??
...My anti-virus + malware thing didn't catch anything?!😡!!?
.... Can I PREVENT "submission errors" somehow? Am I tagged & will keep happening?!!? 😱 I'd best go now. SIGH!! 😤
Calm down and use something with a keyboard. It's way easier anyway.
essentially a loyalty oath
... & loyalty isn't to us!
I won’t. NDAs almost always enable abuses or transfers of agency (personal).
Good thing I retired 18 years cuz I’d tell Trump where he could shove his NDA.
No NDA's
Simply put...your ( our) hands are tied the moment you sign these NDAs...You are being coersed to keep your mouth shut....no matter what the possible consequences are...thereby also making you complicit to 'bad behaviors', (please ignore any misspellings...)
Lot of incorrect comments in the section referring to a government of the people, by the people, for the people:
“elected government works FOR the American people”
“federal employees work FOR us”
“How decisions get made, how money gets spent, how rules get enforced, that’s our information. Not the administration’s.”
Where in the constitution are you getting this? The preamble of the constitution speaks to “we the people” blessing the new arrangement of government, which serves the UNION. It doesn’t allude to the federal government working FOR the citizens. Further into the constitution, Article 1/Section 8 speaks to supporting the “general welfare of the United States”…..doesn’t mention answering to the people.
We have thousands of democracies contained within the United States if you want a government that serves and answers to the people.
??????
So the Constitution is all about forming an authoritarian government not responsive to the people it is presumed to serve? "We the People of the United States......"
If the government follows the spirit and text of the constitution, it can’t be authoritarian,…at least not domestically. Foreign matters could be a different issue.
When reading the preamble – “We the people” – I only see that it ordains the arrangement outlined in the constitution and nothing about the people controlling the government or the government serving the wants of the people.
If we want the federal government to serve the wants or will of the people, we would have to change the constitution through an amendment. Otherwise, it is authoritarian for the federal government to serve the will of the people in a free society when there are already many institutions designed to serve the people.