“Doge’s actions in the VA put the lives of veterans at risk,” President Gerald Connolly, a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, told Wired. Veterans said, “Because they are deprived of the necessary care, and are worthy of it. [President Donald] Trump and Elon handed over the VA to Lackeys, who didn’t know the first thing about what it means to serve your country. ”
VA employees have expressed concern about changes Doge staff have already made to their agents. “These people have zero clues as to what they’re working on,” a VA employee tells Wired.
The VA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nor did Volpert, Roussos, Fulcher, Rehling, and Koval.
However, Lavingia’s past works seem to inform his current outlook in VA, especially when it comes to AI. In a blog post on his personal website from October 2024, Lavingia discussed how Gumroad, who fired most of his employees in 2015, achieved financial stability.
“Today, humans are necessary for star customer service, crisis management, regulatory compliance and negotiation, property inspections, and more,” he writes. “But it won’t take long until AI can do all of the above.”
Two sources familiar with Lavingia’s work in VA note that he appears to be trying to introduce an AI tool called OpenHands to write agency code. On Github, Lavingia requested that an open hand be added to the repertoire of programs that VA Tech Worker can use, pointing out in Slack that this is a “priority.” [chief of staff] And the secretary. (OpenHands can be downloaded by anyone on Github.)
“They looked into using AI for all their development contracts and asked us to justify why we couldn’t do that,” says a VA employee. “I think they’re looking at ways to fill the gap. [of canceled contracts] With AI. ”
“There is no approval to use AI because some of Github Repos have sensitive information,” says the second VA technology worker who asked him to remain anonymous as he is not allowed to talk to the media, as he says. “In theory, you can script something and pull out a lot of data.” According to the source, much of that data is stored and accessed through several application programming interfaces. This includes information such as social security numbers and banking information for veterans and their families, as well as medical and disability histories.
New tools also mean new security risks. “The programming tools or applications used in federal systems must meet many security categories,” the source says. They worry that the proposed use of open hand is not properly vetted for government purposes due to security gaps that could make VA systems and data vulnerable.
“They don’t follow any of the usual procedures and put people at risk,” they say. He says system failures can hinder the veteran’s ability to access interests. “These are people who gave themselves to their country, and they deserve more respect than that.”
