April 10, 2025
Mr. Conaway (for himself, Mr. Carbajal, and Ms. Houlahan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to restrict the access and use of veterans’ data by the US DOGE Service and special Government employees, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the VA DATA Access Transparency and Accountability Act of 2025
or the VA DATA Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Restrictions on access of DOGE Service to personal information about veterans
(a) Restriction on access
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not provide to the Administrator of the United States DOGE Service (commonly referred to as the Department of Government Efficiency
or DOGE
) access to any veteran’s data in the possession of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) Restriction on use of information
No special Government employee may access or exfiltrate any veteran’s data in the possession of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of using such data—
(1)
for commercial gain; or
(2)
for any reason other than a governmental purpose authorized by the Secretary.
(c) Termination of access
If any special Government employee acquires access to any system of the Department of Veterans Affairs that contains any veteran’s data, the Secretary shall ensure that upon the termination of the period of service of the special Government employee, such employee—
(1)
returns all such data to the Department of Veterans Affairs; and
(2)
does not retain a copy of any such data.
(d) Definitions
In this section:
(1)
The term special Government employee
has the meaning given such term in section 202(a) of title 18, United States Code.
(2)
The term veteran’s data
mean data relating to an individual veteran, including personal health information, personal identifying information, and financial information.
(3)
The term personal health information
means, with respect to a veteran, any information, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, that is related to—
(A)
the health of the veteran, including past, present, or future health;
(B)
the medical treatment of the veteran, including past, present or future such treatment; or
(C)
any payment made or charged to a veteran related to the health or medical treatment of the veteran, including any past, present or future such payment.
(4)
The term personal identifying information
means, with respect to a veteran, any information, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, that can be used to uncover the identity of the veteran, including—
(A)
the name, signature, or initials of the veteran;
(B)
the social security number of the veteran;
(C)
the drivers license number or passport number of the veteran;
(D)
the home or mailing address of the veteran;
(E)
the date of birth of the veteran;
(F)
any medical record of the veteran;
(G)
any financial account or credit card number of the veteran; and
(H)
any biometric records.