Rep. Mark Takano of California sent a sharply worded letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins urging him to identify any software installed on employees’ computers for monitoring their online activity. Spyware is designed to track users without their knowledge or consent.
Takano also seeks information on whether the VA introduced a digital artificial intelligence tool called OpenHands that can modify computer codes, run commands and browse the web without human intervention.
[VA Secretary Doug Collins] acknowledged at a recent hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subpanel on military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies that the agency employs three members from DOGE, the group that tech billionaire Elon Musk formed to examine federal agencies for waste and abuse. But he did not directly answer questions from lawmakers on whether DOGE has access to veterans’ health records. “They’re advisers. They’re looking through our contracts and stuff like that,” Collins said Tuesday.
“They are acting in their role as a normal VA employee would do and are authorized to do anything that they’re currently doing.”
Takano’s letter asks whether DOGE is accessing and looking at veterans’ medical files. VA is required by several federal laws to protect veterans health information, he wrote. Laws include the E-Government Act of 2022 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, Takano said. “Veterans deserve transparency, and you are required by law to provide it,” he wrote in the letter.
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