Warren Questions Hegseth on DoD AI Contracting, Pushes for Competition, Protection of Government Data

Warren’s bipartisan bill on AI defense contracting overlaps with recent White House guidance, presents opportunity to protect national security
Text of Letter (PDF)
Washington, D.C. –U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth asking him to explain how he will ensure the  Department of Defense’s (DOD) AI contracting processes will protect government data, save taxpayer funds, and promote competition.
In April, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB)releasednew guidancedirecting federal agenciesto “ensur[e] the government and the public benefit from a competitive American AI marketplace.” The guidance asks federal agencies to pay careful attention to “vendor sourcing, data portability, and long-term interoperability to avoid significant and costly dependencies on a single vendor,” with the goal of increasing competition, driving innovation, and keeping prices low. Notably, the OMB guidance specifically exempts national security systems.
“[L]ike the administration, I seek to ensure that the DoD’s procurement decisions encourage competition and avoid consolidation that can lead to higher prices, concentration of risk, and the stifling of innovation,”concluded Senator Warren.
Senator Warren and Eric Schmitt (R-Miss.) recently reintroduced theProtecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act of 2025, which includes provisions that align with the White House’s guidelines, but are specific to DoD. The bill would discourage vendor lock-in by directing DoD to use competitive award processes, prioritize interoperability, and consider multicloud solutions when contracting for AI, cloud computing, and data infrastructure tools across national security systems.
“The United States federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, and the DoD is responsible for more than half of federal government contracting dollars. Consequently, DoD’s procurement decisions can have an enormous impact on how markets operate,”said Senator Warren.
DoDrecently awarded$9 billion in contracts to Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon to build its cloud computing network and has requested an additional $1.8 billion for AI programs for fiscal year 2025.
To understand how the military might benefit from the new OMB guidance, Senator Warren asked Secretary Hegseth to explain how the department plans to prevent vendor lock-in, protect government data, and otherwise promote competition in procuring DoD systems by June 11, 2025.
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