OMB Releases Guidance on Trump’s ‘Woke AI’ Executive Order
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
On Dec. 11, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum providing guidance to federal agencies on implementing President Trump’s July 2025 executive order on “Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government.”
The seven-page memo, signed by OMB Director Russell Vought, focuses on how agencies procure large language models (LLMs). It promotes adherence to two “Unbiased AI Principles” established in the executive order: truth-seeking and ideological neutrality. The truth-seeking principle emphasizes “historical accuracy, scientific inquiry, and objectivity,” while the ideological neutrality principle calls for LLMs to function as “neutral, nonpartisan tools that do not manipulate responses in favor of ideological dogmas.”
OMB’s guidance establishes minimum transparency requirements that agencies must request from AI vendors during procurement, including acceptable use policies, model or system cards, and mechanisms for users to report outputs that violate the two principles. For certain use cases, agencies may request enhanced documentation covering system prompts, safety filters, bias evaluations, adjustments to comply with foreign or state regulations, and more.
Agencies must apply this guidance to all new LLM procurement orders, modify existing contracts “to the extent practicable,” and update procurement policies by March 11, 2026. National security systems are exempt but encouraged to comply. The memo sunsets after two years.
Read the OMB memo here or below:
