OPM asks Supreme Court to halt probationary employee reinstatement at six agencies

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to halt a district court ruling that ordered the reinstatement of fired probationary workers at six federal agencies.

In the emergency application — filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the Office of Personnel Management — the government argues that the organizations that brought the lawsuit lack standing, the district lacked the authority to hear the claims, and that ordering reinstatement was an unlawful remedy.

The preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California “let third parties hijack the employment relationship between the federal government and its workforce,” acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris wrote in the application.

Harris said the preliminary injunction, which ordered the reinstatement of over 16,000 fired workers at six agencies, violated the separation of powers “like many other recent orders.” 

“That is no way to run a government. This Court should stop the ongoing assault on the constitutional structure before further damage is wrought,” Harris said.

The government’s request is the latest in a series of cases challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government by firing probationary employees, who are workers in a trial period of one to two years after being hired or promoted. Most of those firings cited “performance” as the reason, which workers and their advocates have pushed back against. At least two federal courts have issued orders to reinstate those workers. 

In the Northern District of California, Judge William Alsup sided with workers’ unions, concluding that OPM likely unlawfully ordered other federal agencies to fire employees. Alsup’s order covers the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Defense to reinstate their fired probationers. 

Meanwhile in the District of Maryland, Judge James K. Bredar sided with a coalition of multiple states that argued the firings violated federal statute governing reductions in force, or RIFs. 

Bredar’s order covers the same agencies as the Northern District of California ruling except for DOD. It also covers the Departments of Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, General Services Administration, Small Business Administration, and U.S. Agency for International Development. 

While the Trump administration has told the courts it’s working on complying with those rulings, it also attempted to halt the orders with their respective circuit courts. Those requests, however, were both unsuccessful.

Prior to the emergency application on the Northern District of California order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the government’s request for similar relief. In a decision last week, two of the three judges on the panel of that court concluded that staying the injunction would “disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head.” 

The Fourth Circuit similarly denied the government’s request to stay the District of Maryland ruling Friday.

Trump orders full access to agency data for designated officials

Federal agencies must now allow any officials designated by the president or agency leadership to have complete access to unclassified records, data, software systems and IT systems, President Donald Trump declared in an executive order late Thursday night.

Trump’s directive aims to stop waste, fraud and abuse by eliminating information silos, requiring agency heads to “ensure Federal officials designated by the President or Agency Heads (or their designees) have full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems — or their equivalents if providing access to an equivalent dataset does not delay access — for purposes of pursuing Administration priorities related to the identification and elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse.”

“This includes authorizing and facilitating both the intra- and inter-agency sharing and consolidation of unclassified agency records,” the executive order states. 

The order requires agency heads to rescind or modify agency guidance that acts as a barrier to any sharing of unclassified data in or across agencies within 30 days. During that same period, agencies must also submit to the Office of Management and Budget a report on regulations governing unclassified data access with suggestions on whether they should be eliminated or modified to achieve the executive order’s goals. 

Upon the signing of the order, agency heads must also ensure that the federal government has “unfettered access” to comprehensive data from all state programs that receive federal funding including data generated by such programs that are maintained by third-party databases. 

The order also requires the Department of Labor’s secretary and secretary’s designees to receive complete access to unemployment data and related payment records, “including all such data and records currently available to [DOL’s] Office of Inspector General.”

The Thursday order follows one of Trump’s first executive orders in this term that established the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency Service (USDS) to replace the U.S. Digital Service and ordered agencies to allow USDS “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems.”

While the Thursday directive does not point directly to DOGE as the federal officials gaining access to all unclassified information and systems, the administration points to it in a fact sheet. 

“On day one, [Trump] established the [DOGE] to examine how to streamline the federal government, eliminate unnecessary programs and reduce bureaucratic inefficiency,” the sheet states. 

Since then, DOGE has infiltrated many federal agencies, gaining access to key IT systems and sensitive data sets, including those at USAID, the Education and Treasury departments, the Social Security Administration, and a number of others. 

The order comes after a DOGE associate working at Treasury was called out in an ongoing lawsuit for improperly sharing sensitive personal information outside the agency. It appears this order would open up the possibility for designated officials to circumvent existing agency policies that forbid such sharing.

Cybercriminals target federal employee credentials with National Finance Center scam

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned federal employees that cybercriminals are attempting to steal their login credentials in connection to a widely used government financial services platform, according to a notice viewed by FedScoop. 

Hackers are targeting the Employee Personal Page, or MyEPP page, which is operated by the National Finance Center (NFC), a financial and human resources shared service within the Agriculture Department used by 661,000 employees across the federal government for payroll. The site, which is used to manage salary and benefits information, is typically accessed through an online account or with Login.gov credentials. 

According to the FBI, cybercriminals hope to trick federal employees by running advertisements on search engines that impersonate the NFC website. If they click on the ad, employees are brought to a “sophisticated phishing website” that looks similar to the actual MyEPP page that aims to capture their login credentials when users enter them. 

Several federal employees have reported unauthorized access to their accounts and reported changes to their routing and bank account information, according to the notice. The FBI is directing employees who believe they might be victims to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. 

Meanwhile, a “Help” page for the NFC MyEPP login site remains unavailable because, the agency says, it’s still working on ensuring compliance with the executive order focused on what the Trump administration calls “gender ideology.” 

Federal workers are often prime targets for phishing attempts since their credentials can be used for a wide range of nefarious purposes, including espionage, theft and as an entry point for larger hacking campaigns against agencies. Government login credentials are sometimes sold online. 

The scheme comes as federal workers face heightened anxiety over their employment status and as the Trump administration continues its effort to reduce the size of the U.S. government. 

Neither the Agriculture Department nor the FBI responded to a request for comment by publication time. 

Judge blocks DOGE access to Social Security systems, calls for deletion of data

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday blocking Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from further access to any Social Security Administration systems that contain personally identifiable information.

Judge Ellen Hollander of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland also ordered that all DOGE team members associated with the organization’s work at SSA, including Elon Musk and U.S. DOGE Service leader Amy Gleason, must disgorge and delete all non-anonymized personal information they obtained from the agency’s systems.

The decision is an initial victory in the case where Democracy Forward led a group of unions and an advocacy organization in suing the Social Security Administration and its acting Commissioner Leland Dudek for giving DOGE access to “some of the nation’s most sensitive data, including the financial data, employment information, medical data, and personal addresses of millions of Americans,” according to the initial complaint.

“The American public may well applaud and support the Trump Administration’s mission to root out fraud, waste, and bloat from federal agencies, including SSA, to the extent it exists. But, by what means and methods?” Hollander wrote in her 137-page opinion. “The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion. It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement: “Today, the court did what accountability demands–forcing DOGE to delete every trace of the data it unlawfully accessed. The court recognized the real and immediate dangers of DOGE’s reckless actions and took action to stop it. This is important not only for the millions of Americans whose personal data was at risk. Our team will continue its legal efforts to ensure that this data remains protected and that those responsible are held accountable.”

While federal courts in other DOGE-related cases have reined in the team’s ability to access certain systems, like at the Department of the Treasury, this is the first case in which a judge has ordered Musk’s team to delete all data obtained in their efforts since entering government Jan. 20.

However, the temporary restraining order in this case is just that: a temporary injunction that will expire after 14 days unless the court takes additional action. Now, the lawsuit will move for full consideration of the judge to hear the plaintiffs’ case for a more permanent block of DOGE’s access to SSA systems.

Meanwhile, SSA will be able to still share redacted or anonymized data with DOGE as long as the receiving party has received the requisite training to handle that data and passed a background check.

Additionally, the order allows for the DOGE team to access non-anonymized PII in cases where they provide SSA with “a detailed explanation as to the need for the record and why, for said particular and discrete record, an anonymized or redacted is not suitable for the specific use.”

By March 24, the SSA and DOGE defendants in the case will need to provide a status report to the court detailing how they’ve complied with the order.

In response to the order, Dudek said Thursday that the order is too broad and that it somehow applies to all Social Security employees, Bloomberg reported. He said following it would effectively cause the agency to “terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems,” threatening to move in that direction “and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency.” The order comes after Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this month struck down a resolution from Democrats that called for documentation and other information related to  DOGE’s work at SSA.

Trump executive order consolidates federal IT contracting under GSA

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to consolidate the contracting of common goods and services, including information technology, under the General Services Administration.

Within 30 days of the order’s issuance, GSA will take over as the executive agent of all governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) for IT, as designated by the Office of Management and Budget.

“Consolidating domestic Federal procurement in the General Services Administration — the agency designed to conduct procurement — will eliminate waste and duplication, while enabling agencies to focus on their core mission of delivering the best possible services for the American people,” the order says.

As part of GSA’s new role, the administrator will be able to “defer or decline” being the executive agent of IT governmentwide contracts “when necessary to ensure continuity of service or as otherwise appropriate.”

Other major GWACs for technology across the federal government include the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center’s vehicles like its CIO-SP3 and embattled CIO-SP4, as well as NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) contracts.

The order doesn’t clarify what will happen to those non-GSA IT contracts and the staff that support them.

Additionally, the GSA administrator will lead efforts to “rationalize Government-wide indefinite delivery contract vehicles for information technology for agencies across the Government, including as part of identifying and eliminating contract duplication, redundancy, and other inefficiencies,” the order says.

Trump’s executive order comes after GSA last month sent a memo to federal agencies telling them to find paths to eliminate contracts with the top-10 highest-paid consulting firms across the federal government, which acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian said are set to make “$65 billion in fees” in 2025 and beyond.

OMB will send out guidance sometime in the next two weeks to agencies on how to move forward with implementing this order’s efforts to consolidate IT contracting, it says.

While the order focuses on IT contracts, it also sets a broad charge for agency leaders to work with contracting officers within the next 60 days to send proposals to GSA to transfer “domestic procurement with respect to common goods and services for the agency, where permitted by law.”

Thirty days after that, the head of GSA will submit a plan to OMB for how it will lead the procurement of common goods and services across the government.

Trump’s contracting executive order follows another earlier Thursday aimed at dismantling the Department of Education.

GSA held an all-hands meeting with agency personnel Thursday during which Ehikian teased that the executive order was coming, according to sources who attended the meeting. Agency leadership also demoed a new generative AI tool during the meeting.

From procurement to compliance, IT contractors face a new reality

The federal government is entering a new era of IT modernization, and this time at an accelerated pace. Long-standing inefficiencies and legacy systems are being scrutinized, and agencies are under pressure to innovate. For IT contractors, this scrutiny and Trump administration priorities will require agility, and those who don’t adapt will find themselves sidelined.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) wasted no time accessing some federal IT systems and scrutinizing contracts. DOGE leader Elon Musk has criticized federal agencies’ outdated infrastructure and procurement bottlenecks, so IT modernization is a likely priority moving forward. Meanwhile, regulatory frameworks and funding priorities are shifting, opening new doors but also raising new challenges.

Cloud, AI, and cybersecurity will remain federal priorities, and agencies will need IT partners who can deliver secure, scalable, and future-proof solutions. As policy, regulations, funding, and contract strategies of this administration emerge, contractors must be ready to meet new expectations.

Why modernization must be a priority

Federal IT spending has long favored system maintenance over true innovation. Historically, only 25% of IT budgets have been allocated to Development, Modernization, and Enhancement (DME), while the rest kept aging infrastructure afloat. Innovation requires dismantling this model, but agencies need funding to do so. DOGE’s objective is to identify inefficiencies across agencies, driving cost savings that will hopefully be redirected to cloud-first architectures, automation, and advanced cybersecurity. IT contractors who deliver scalable, forward-thinking solutions will be best positioned for success.

Agencies are continuing to accelerate the use of Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements to bypass traditional, slow-moving procurement models. Category management continues to drive contract consolidation, making innovative solutions and teaming critical. The emphasis is on agility and proven performance contractors unable to redirect and maximize past performance for competitive advantage risk losing ground.

Meanwhile, compliance remains a moving target. Regulations regarding Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), artificial intelligence, and IT supply chain are under a review freeze, and the Trump Administration now requires a “one rule in, ten rules out” policy for regulations. However, expectations for security and accountability remain high, and agencies will prioritize vendors that demonstrate proactive risk management.

As new technology priorities take shape, AI remains at the forefront. Federal agencies are investing heavily in AI-powered automation, predictive analytics, and cybersecurity threat detection, fueled by fewer regulatory barriers. IT contractors must be ready to deliver intelligent, adaptable solutions that align with agency missions. 

Winning federal contracts in the new IT era

Federal agencies can’t modernize their IT systems alone — they need contractors who can deliver the right solutions, navigate the procurement process, and anticipate risks before they become roadblocks. Staying ahead of agency expectations is what will set leading contractors apart.

Here’s how contractors can strengthen their competitive edge:

1. Develop solutions that match shifting agency priorities
Cloud migration, AI-driven automation, and zero-trust security are top priorities for federal agencies. Contractors that align their capabilities with these needs, and can offer cost-effective and secure solutions, will be in the best position to secure contracts as new opportunities emerge.

2. Track budget shifts and target new agency customers
The current budget environment is volatile, and both funding and priorities could shift. Agencies investing in modernization today may not be the same ones leading IT initiatives tomorrow, and those that did not previously have funds for modernization may see some budget flexibility moving forward. Tracking these changes and proactively targeting emerging agency customers is key to staying competitive.

3. Prove your worth for competitive advantage
With efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and costs being highly scrutinized, contractors must be prepared to articulate solution value and illustrate excellent past performance, cost and contract management, and risk identification and mitigation.

Ultimately, winning federal contracts means staying ahead of change. Federal agencies are moving quickly to modernize, and contractors who can’t match that pace will struggle to compete. With shifting budgets, evolving procurement models, and heightened scrutiny on cost-effectiveness, agencies need partners who bring both innovation and efficiency to the table. Those who anticipate changes, align with new priorities and clearly demonstrate value will secure a competitive edge. The window of opportunity is open — but not for long.

Deniece Peterson is senior director of federal market analysis at Deltek.

GSA debuts new generative AI tool for workers

The General Services Administration on Thursday revealed a new generative AI tool designed to boost efficiency and help automate repetitive tasks. 

The platform, now available to GSA staff, comes amid anxiety that the Department of Government Efficiency might use artificial intelligence to surveil or replace federal workers, who are being laid off in large swaths across the government.

The GSA chatbot can access a series of large language models, including technology from Anthropic and Meta. The system resembles other AI chatbots, and it’s designed to respond to user prompts and help staff with basic tasks, like writing. 

“This tool reflects our proactive approach to innovation and our commitment to providing secure and effective solutions tailored to the unique needs of government work,” Stephen Ehikian, the acting administrator of GSA, said in a statement. “The opportunity to incorporate generative AI into Government work is akin to giving a personal computer to every worker. We are just at the start of our journey using this new tool, but the demand for this technology exists across GSA and the broader government.”

Earlier this month, Wired first reported that the DOGE had deployed a chatbot called GSAi for 1,500 workers. According to Wired, the tool had been in development for several months, but DOGE accelerated the rollout of the platform and eventually wants to use it for data analysis of contracts and procurements.

GSA said in a Thursday statement it is encouraging all of its staff to test the tool. 

The tool’s deployment follows the elimination of 18F, a digital services team that helped federal agencies build technology platforms and make efficient software purchases, and the slimming down of the Technology Transformation Services, a technology consulting group based within GSA. 

With the chatbot, GSA wanted to take an approach that wasn’t dependent on a single vendor, an agency official familiar with its development said. The primary goal of the tool is to promote a culture shift toward using artificial intelligence, the official said. The tool is being measured based on adoption, not hours or workers saved, the person emphasized. Staff from the TTS and IT employees within GSA helped build the tool.

The GSA official said the tool is not meant to be used to make official agency decisions and that the models are walled off from any GSA knowledge bases. There are also safety controls built into the system meant to prevent personal and sensitive information from being shared. The agency isn’t classifying conversations with the chatbot as federal records but prompts are being logged, the person added. 

Eventually, the agency wants to expand the tool so that other agencies can use it and develop an API to offer access to the models. GSA, which is using a managed model service for the chatbot, says it expects to incorporate more models in the near future.

“We want to understand how this tool fits into day-to-day workflows and where adjustments are needed to maximize its value,” Zach Whitman, the agency’s chief AI officer and data officer, said in a statement. 

Customs and Border Protection using Elon Musk’s Starlink for officer communications

Customs and Border Protection has deployed Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service so that officers working in remote border locations can send certain data when other communications systems aren’t available. 

The program, which is called the Seamless Integrated Communications program, is meant to streamline a series of communications technologies, including Starlink. But in the midst of cost-saving measures, two satellite locations used for backhaul data communications are being replaced with ground-based connectivity in fiscal 2025, a CBP spokesperson told FedScoop on Wednesday.

A privacy threshold analysis released by CBP this month details aspects of the SIC program. The context in which CBP agents might rely on this tool — which is supposed to provide “enhanced situational awareness” and continuous communications — is redacted from the PTA. But the document states that Starlink is supposed to be used as a backhaul method and facility network enhancement when fiberoptic systems aren’t sufficient. Increased data flow, the document states, will help the agency stop illicit activity.

“The purpose of Seamless Integrated Communications (SIC) is to provide a mesh network of both fixed locations and mobile devices in harsh and remote border environments where CBP experiences limited to no cellular service. SIC enables limited point-to-point or multi-hop data communications,” a CBP spokesperson told FedScoop. The system isn’t a cell phone signal booster and doesn’t support voice capabilities, they said, but is meant to support data sharing across commercial cellular, satellite, and direct network connections. 

“Satellite connectivity for backhaul is employed on a case-by-case basis, based on the operational environment, when no other persistent or cost-effective means to perform backhaul is available. In two limited cases, Starlink is used for satellite backhaul,” the spokesperson said. “SIC will transition these satellite locations to ground based connectivity in FY 2025 due to cost savings.” 

The original privacy threshold analysis was published on a CBP site after FedScoop reported on its existence and subsequently asked for the document to be made public. 

The revelation of CBP’s use of Starlink comes at a time when Musk, the world’s richest man, has wielded massive influence over the U.S. government as his Department of Government Efficiency slashes the federal workforce.

Musk’s business interests with the federal government have come into greater focus since his immersion into the Trump administration. NASA and the Defense Department spend heavily contracting with Musk’s SpaceX for satellite launches, while some federal agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, are also using the company’s satellite constellation internet service. 

Other documents highlighted by FedScoop, meanwhile, indicate that CBP appeared at one point to be exploring the use of Starlink as part of its autonomous surveillance tower program. It’s not clear where that work currently stands. 

The SIC program was first developed in April 2020 and was scheduled to end in April 2024, but a spokesperson told FedScoop last month that work with Starlink had been extended until at least next month and could be extended further. 

Federal spending records show that CBP has made other purchases related to Starlink.  

Senate panel, with plans for AI-fueled efficiencies, waits on DOGE to call

Democratic leadership on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee sees “real opportunities” for bipartisan artificial intelligence work that could unearth the kind of inefficiencies in government that the Trump administration says it wants to target. But contact with Elon Musk’s DOGE to move that ball forward hasn’t materialized so far.

David Weinberg, staff director for the Democrats on the powerful tech-focused panel, told FedScoop on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Elastic Public Sector Summit that ranking member Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and other minority members are “hoping for more transparency” from DOGE and anxious to “hear more about what they’re thinking.” 

“We don’t hear much from them,” Weinberg said of DOGE, which has focused much of its early efforts on mass firings across the federal workforce, canceling contracts and funded programs, and overstating supposed cost savings. 

“We do hope that they look at more than just reducing headcount as they’re trying to find efficiencies,” Weinberg continued. “We do think that there are a lot of efficiencies to be had — in software purchases, consolidation, the harmonization stuff we’ve been discussing. We have just not been privy to much of that.”

Peters, who led a letter last month asking the White House chief of staff to pause DOGE’s work in federal agencies, has long been focused on government efficiency. In his role as the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has championed legislation that would curb duplicative agency purchases of software and AI tools. 

“Democrats aren’t opposed to a more efficient government. We just have some concerns with how they’ve gone about this and what their focus is,” Weinberg said. “I do hope that we can kind of point them in a productive, bipartisan direction. But it does seem like they’ve had sort of a laser focus on [reductions in force], without thinking about some of these more structural issues.”

Some of those structural issues could be ironed out with a more focused approach to AI regulation. During an on-stage interview at Wednesday’s FedScoop-produced Elastic event, Weinberg acknowledged the challenges agencies and industry have faced in unpacking “three pretty different executive orders on AI” over the course of the past three administrations.

Having that “pendulum swinging back and forth” isn’t helpful for the federal workforce or the private sector, he added, so having “more legislative structure” in place “really makes sense.” 

“There certainly are real opportunities to use AI to find efficiencies,” Weinberg said. “We’re still getting our arms around what we expect to see from this administration as it comes to AI. We have seen some of their nominees and senior leadership talk about moving from a sort of risk-based to impact-based analysis for uses. We’re not really sure exactly what that means. We want to make sure we get conscious of the risks that are raised by some of these uses.”

Peters is interested in pushing two bills this Congress that are aimed at helping agencies be better prepared to use AI. The Promoting Responsible Evaluation and Procurement to Advance Readiness for Enterprise-wide Deployment (PREPARED) for AI Act, which Peters introduced with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. last year, would establish guardrails and risk assessments around agency purchases of AI technologies. Another piece of legislation deals with data modernization and harmonization, calling on agency chief data officers to essentially pursue a “whole of government” approach to AI purchasing decisions.

Weinberg told FedScoop that Peters wants to have discussions with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs HSGAC, and other Republican members before reintroducing both bills. 

“All roads on the committee now run through Chairman Paul,” he said. “So we’re in the early stages of those conversations with them, and I’m sure they’ll want to see what the new administration has to say as well. We are trying to do some of the lowest-hanging fruit from last Congress first. I’m hoping this stuff will be [in] the next tranche.”

For HSGAC Democrats, all of these tech-related legislative paths point back to Washington’s cause du jour: efficiency. In Weinberg’s view, that means hoping DOGE steers away from RIFs and toward transparency, and making sure agencies aren’t duplicating efforts in software buying or in AI development. Harmonizing across the federal government and letting the private sector lead the way with “cost-effective and efficient” tools makes the most sense for all parties, he said

“I don’t think we’re going to see a significant AI private sector-facing regulatory framework going forward or enacted,” Weinberg said during his panel interview. “That being said, setting some guardrails and rules around federal government procurement — the federal government, being the biggest purchaser in the world, can really help shape the market in ways that we think are productive and responsible.”

House Democrat wants to modernize privacy law in light of DOGE data access

As litigation plays out on DOGE access to individuals’ sensitive data, a House lawmaker is asking civil society groups, privacy experts, government technologists and others to inform legislation seeking to modernize the Privacy Act of 1974.

Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., said in a press release that she is beginning an effort to reform the Privacy Act, which has been cited in various lawsuits against agencies over allegedly allowing unauthorized DOGE staffers to access data that could contain personally identifiable information. “Unaccountable billionaires, inexperienced programmers and unvetted political appointees are perpetrating the biggest government privacy scandal since Watergate,” Trahan said in the release.

Ann Lewis, former director of the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, said in a statement that “the Privacy Act lacks necessary provisions to address modern challenges presented by national-scale data breaches, widespread adoption of AI, and the need for secure cross-agency information sharing. Additionally, it lacks sufficient transparency and accountability mechanisms for how agencies use emerging technologies to collect, store, and analyze personal information.”

In order to begin this effort, Trahan is asking the public to respond to a series of questions, including the federal government’s need to balance privacy with other priorities like reducing waste, how the government can effectively leverage privacy-enhancing technologies, the privacy risks associated with artificial intelligence and more. 

Other questions include whether the modernized privacy act should address privacy concerns faced by organizations, including businesses and nonprofits, and how potential legislation could accomplish that. Trahan is also interested in disclosure requirements, including how those regarding individuals’ access to and ability to amend their information could be improved and how agencies’ implementation could be modernized. 

Trahan argued in the request for feedback that the federal government’s use of technology has “dramatically evolved,” since the Privacy Act’s enactment, which was created in response to the Watergate scandal. Since then, Congress has implemented legislation that governs the federal management of electronic information, like the E-Government Act of 2002 or the Federal Information Technology and Modernization Act.

“The combination of challenges stemming from unchecked government officials and significant technological advances warrant a reevaluation of the Privacy Act … and related laws governing privacy and federal information technology,” Trahan wrote.