A nonprofit focused on government policy compliance filed a lawsuit against four federal agencies on Wednesday, seeking to reveal more information about their use of artificial intelligence technologies in the enforcement of the Trump administration’s policy directives.
The nonprofit, Democracy Forward, sued the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Office of Management and Budget for a failure to respond to the nonprofit’s initial Freedom of Information Act requests.
The organization’s FOIA asked for more information about these agencies’ use of AI systems in policy executions. Specifically, the nonprofit cited concern over AI’s role in analyzing comments submitted in response to OPM’s proposed rule on “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service.”
Democracy Forward continued submitting additional FOIA requests to the personnel agency surrounding the inputs and outputs of AI tools used by OPM staff regarding the proposed rule. It also submitted separate FOIAs to GSA, HUD and OMB regarding how it leverages AI in implementing new policies, particularly those brought on by the Department of Government Efficiency.
“The public has a right to know the extent to which the administration has used unreliable and unproven AI tools to expand its agenda of undermining regulations that protect people,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a press release. “AI is a tool, but it must be ethically and skillfully utilized. AI is also not a replacement for the skilled professionals in our civil service who work to protect the health, safety, wages, and rights of millions of Americans. Democracy Forward will continue to hold this administration accountable to the people.”
The four agencies will have to respond to the lawsuit within 30 days of the summons service.
DOGE’s mission to modernize government processes for quicker, more efficient service delivery was a major feature of the second Trump administration’s initial policy agenda. Modernizing federal technology systems became intrinsic to this goal, and deploying AI tools in this effort prompted scrutiny over data security used within these models.
