House Dems demand DOGE ‘immediately terminate’ unauthorized AI use
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Nearly 50 House lawmakers signed a letter to OMB asking for greater transparency into how the Trump administration has leveraged artificial intelligence systems.
A total of 48 Democrat members of Congress sent a letter to the leadership of the Office of Management and Budget on Thursday, asking for an end to any unauthorized artificial intelligence systems being used at agencies and clarity on the Department of Government Efficiency’s use of AI overall — particularly when handling sensitive government data.
The letter, spearheaded by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Mike Levin, D-Calif., and Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., referenced reporting on the unauthorized use of AI systems in DOGE’s evaluations of federal agency operations, such as the development of a chatbot for the Government Services Administration and the use of AI to handle sensitive staff information within the Office of Personnel Management.
Lawmakers chiefly warned that leveraging novel AI technologies in sensitive data environments to share information would constitute data privacy risks.
“Without proper protections, feeding sensitive data into an AI system puts it into the possession of a system’s operator — a massive breach of public and employee trust and an increase in cybersecurity risks surrounding that data,” the letter said. “Generative AI models also frequently make errors and show significant biases — the technology simply is not ready for use in high-risk decision-making without proper vetting, transparency, oversight, and guardrails in place.”
Leveraging softwares and technologies that have not been authorized by federal programs — namely the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program for cloud-based offerings — could run afoul of data security laws like the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.
The lawmakers questioned what types of AI softwares have been deployed by the Trump administration and if they are already listed as federally-approved services.
The letter also asked if DOGE or the administration has used AI technology to make decisions regarding federal worker employment or federal contracting and funding. Notably, the lawmakers also questioned whether sensitive government data had been used to train DOGE leader Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot.
The lawmakers requested that the administration “immediately terminate any use of AI systems that have not been approved by FedRAMP or equivalent formal approval procedures or that do not comply with existing laws,” and gave OMB until April 25 to respond.
“It is important to understand the extent to which this administration’s reckless disregard for legal authorities and necessary security protocols has extended into use of AI systems,” the letter said. “Thoughtful adoption of AI is of strategic national importance.”
As the Trump administration continues to analyze current government operations via DOGE actions, Democratic lawmakers have voiced concern of the deployment of unvetted AI systems in sensitive government digital networks.
Prior to issuing the letter, Stansbury in particular introduced a resolution to compel the administration to release documentation on DOGE’s use of AI within sensitive digital government environments.