Washington, DC — Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) today filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, seeking an immediate release of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that the agency has required employees to sign. The suit, filed under the Freedom of Information Act, comes after the Forest Service missed its statutory deadline to respond to a PEER records request and has continued to withhold the documents.

The lawsuit follows a troubling track record at the Forest Service on the use of NDAs. In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report finding that the Forest Service NDA policies and forms failed to include the legally required anti-gag provisions mandated under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The Forest Service concurred with the OIG’s findings and committed to reviewing and updating its NDAs policies and reissuing NDAs for current employees—with a target completion date of October 2025. Whether the Forest Service is honoring its commitment remains unknown to the public.

The lawsuit takes on added urgency considering the Trump administration’s May 2026 proposal to create government-wide NDAs for most federal employees. PEER has called on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to withdraw this proposal, warning that it is illegal, built on false premises, and designed to silence career civil servants.

In their comments to OPM, PEER noted that federal employees already face a range of criminal and other sanctions for releasing specific types of information to the public without prior approval.

PEER argues that public access to these NDAs is essential for understanding the scope of the confidentiality requirements imposed on Forest Service employees and whether those agreements comply with whistleblower protections. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the Forest Service to immediately produce all responsive records.

“Exposing how the Forest Service is using NDAs—and whether the agreements comply with federal law—is precisely the kind of transparency the public needs as the administration seeks to expand such restrictions across the government,” says Colleen Zimmerman, PEER’s staff counsel who filed the suit.

“Public employees are not corporate employees who are required to protect their company’s business secrets,” says Joanna Citron Day, PEER’s general counsel. “They are public servants whose work belongs to the people who pay for it.”

“Normalizing NDAs across the government doesn’t just silence public servants; it risks turning the machinery of government into a black box accountable to no one except those in power. That is not how democracy is supposed to function,” adds Citron Day.

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Read the PEER lawsuit

Read PEER’ comments on OPM’s Proposal for Non-Disclosure Agreements

Read the USDA’s IG Report on the Use of NDAs in USDA Agencies, including the Forest Service PDF

PEER protects public employees who protect our environment, natural resources, and public health. We support current and former environmental and public health professionals, land managers, scientists, enforcement officers, and other civil servants dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values across federal, state, local, and tribal governments.