Democracy Forward requests records on DOGE’s reported AI use
An organization that’s filed multiple legal challenges against the Trump administration is focusing its attention on the potential use of artificial intelligence in personnel decisions.
Democracy Forward, a social welfare organization, said Monday it “launched a public records investigation” into the administration’s AI use, including filing requests under the Freedom of Information Act, known as FOIA.
“The American people deserve to know what is going on — including if and how artificial intelligence is being used to reshape the departments and agencies people rely on daily,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a written statement. “We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to force the Trump-Vance administration to fulfill its obligation to the public and to our system of laws.”
The organization’s requests come after reporting by NBC that Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency planned to use AI to review employee responses to the Office of Personnel Management’s “five bullets” email. OPM’s request, which was first sent Feb. 22, asked workers to write an email response describing what they did the week before in roughly five bullet points. It prompted cautious responses from agencies.
The White House didn’t respond to a FedScoop request for comment on the FOIA submissions or whether the DOGE is using AI.
According to a press release, Democracy Forward’s requests were filed with the U.S. DOGE Service (formerly known as the U.S. Digital Service), Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Education, Department of Treasury, and Department of Defense.
The organization declined to share further details about what it’s requesting from the DOGE and the agencies.
Democracy Forward has so far filed more than 25 legal challenges against the Trump administration, according to the release. Its legal victories include a federal court injunction on the administration’s federal funding freeze and a ruling from the Merit Systems Protection Board that stayed the termination of six federal workers.
