Freedom of Information Act Requests Focus on Multiple Agencies 

Washington, D.C. – Today, Democracy Forward launched a public records investigation into the Trump-Vance administration’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to make personnel decisions affecting the federal workforce. The investigation includes requests pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding the use of AI to make personnel decisions at key government agencies. 

In the past several weeks, a series of haphazard emails and communications have been sent to the non-partisan federal workers who work every day to provide essential services, keep our air and water clean, keep our communities and our nation safe, and care for people in vulnerable circumstances. Although seemingly spearheaded by Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), where those missives have come from, and what the information will be used for, has been a mystery. Public reporting indicates the responses to these emails will be fed into a large language model (LLM).

“For an administration that claimed it wanted to bring about transparency and efficiency in government, the Trump-Vance administration’s purge of public servants and sloppy processes have done just the opposite. DOGE and this administration are operating in a shroud of secrecy, and their ‘govern by chaos’ tactics have only made government less efficient and caused disruptions to our safety and security,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “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. 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.” 

This series of FOIA requests is the latest effort by Democracy Forward, which has filed more than 25 legal actions since January 20, securing major wins on issues ranging from blocking immigration enforcement in houses of worship; overturning the freezing of federal funds to programs across the nation, and halting the termination of civil servants. The group has also been active in efforts to force the Trump-Vance administration to comply with federal transparency laws. Last week, Democracy Forward filed two lawsuits with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the production of documents related to the Trump-Vance administration’s actions to one, target federal employees who supported diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility efforts, and two, abruptly pause critical federal funding, including grants, loans, and contracts, to communities around the world.

Today’s FOIA submissions include requests to the U.S. Digital Service/DOGE, Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Education, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Defense. According to the law, each of the requests must be addressed or fulfilled within 20 days. 

For more information about Democracy Forward, please visit democracyforward.org. 

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