A group of 48 House Democrats sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on Wednesday to call for an immediate halt to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) use of unauthorized AI systems.
Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Mike Levin, D-Calif., and Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., spearheaded the letter, which highlights the serious security risks and potential criminal liability at stake.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also signed off on the letter.
“We are specifically concerned about reports of Elon Musk and DOGE’s monitoring and sharing of Federal employee and non-public Federal data using AI tools, and reports of intentions to use sensitive data to train private AI models,” they wrote. “These present serious security risks, self-dealing, and potential criminal liability if not handled correctly, and have the potential to undermine successful and appropriate AI adoption.”
The lawmakers said they are concerned that DOGE employees are feeding sensitive data into AI systems, something they said would constitute “a massive breach of public and employee trust and an increase in cybersecurity risks surrounding that data.”
Specifically, they said sharing that data outside of Federal systems or lawfully vetted contracts could violate laws such as the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.
Additionally, they said the Federal government is legally obligated to comply with codified requirements “for vetting software and cloud products and services,” through programs such as the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
“While we support the Federal government integrating new, approved AI technologies that can improve efficiency or efficacy, we cannot sacrifice security, privacy, and appropriate use standards when interacting with Federal data,” they wrote. “We ask that you 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.”
They also asked the Trump administration to not use any AI system to make employment termination decisions relating to civil servants, noting that generative AI models can often make errors and show biases.
The lawmakers also raised serious concerns regarding Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest as both a Federal contractor and the founder and owner of xAI.
The Democrats want answers by April 25 to several questions, including what AI systems have been deployed by DOGE and the Trump administration. They want to know if these technologies are federally approved and if any AI technologies in use are powered by xAI’s models.
They also want to know if DOGE or the Trump administration has used any AI technology to make or recommend a decision regarding a contract, Federal funding, or someone’s employment.