Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is urging President Donald Trump to require all special government employees (SGEs) to sign a certification that they will never use nonpublic information from the federal government for their own personal benefit, especially after leaving government service. Shaheen’s request follows numerous reports of SGEs accessing some of the government’s most sensitive information.

Shaheen wrote, in part: “Given the unprecedented nature of the access DOGE SGEs have had to vast swathes of some of the most sensitive U.S. government data, I am very concerned that SGEs, many of whom come from the tech field, may return to the private sector and use nonpublic information from the federal government to give their personal business activities an unfair and anticompetitive boost. Indeed, one of your former advisors, Steve Bannon, shares my concern.”

In her letter to the President, Shaheen referenced a recent report in which Steve Bannon, a former advisor to Trump, said he wants a letter of certification showing that no one has taken any data from the Trump administration or government.

Shaheen concluded: “I agree, and I ask that you put in place a process to require each SGE to sign a certification prior to leaving government service indicating that they understand and agree that they are never allowed to use nonpublic information for their personal benefit and that they cannot take any such data with them.”