# DHS orders DeepSeek removed from federal agencies, third parties too

> A July 24 DHS order bars federal civilian agencies from buying DeepSeek and requires removal from their systems, including third-party products.

- URL: https://roobrief.com/en/posts/deepseek-dhs-removal-order
- Language: en
- Published: 2026-10-20T01:00:00.000Z
- Tags: ai
- Source: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-21447.pdf

**Federal civilian agencies can no longer buy DeepSeek and must pull what they already run, and the order reaches third-party products built with DeepSeek, so vendors that sell to the federal government would do well to check whether DeepSeek is in their products.**

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered federal civilian executive branch agencies to exclude DeepSeek from procurement and remove it from systems where it is already installed. The order itself is dated July 24. The notice was filed with the Federal Register on Oct. 19 and is scheduled for publication on Oct. 20. It was signed by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

## What the order covers

The legal basis is the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 (FASCSA). It lets the DHS secretary order risky products out of federal procurement or off federal systems after reviewing a recommendation from the Federal Acquisition Security Council. The order requires two things.

- **Procurement exclusion:** Products and services from Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and its affiliates come out of federal civilian agency procurement immediately. That includes agency-approved product lists, service provider equipment lists and e-commerce marketplaces.
- **Removal:** Agencies must remove DeepSeek products, and third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations, from their IT systems. The order says to do this immediately after issuance and sets no separate removal deadline.

The order applies to federal civilian executive branch agencies. Their national security systems and sensitive compartmented information (SCI) systems are excluded, and the Defense Department and intelligence agencies fall under separate authorities. Nothing in the text directly regulates private companies or individuals.

## Where "third-party" ends

This is the part that matters most to developers. The order doesn't stop at agencies using the DeepSeek app or API directly. Other companies' products and services built using DeepSeek implementations are also pushed out of federal systems.

The text doesn't define how far "developed using DeepSeek implementations" reaches, though. Whether it covers a model trained further from DeepSeek or a product that only calls a hosted API can't be answered from the document alone, and it can't be settled until further guidance appears. That guidance would likely come from CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which handles implementation of the order.

## The risks DHS cites

The order lists five concerns.

1. DeepSeek's servers are in China, and Chinese law gives the government broad access to private company infrastructure.
2. Account creation collects personally identifiable information, and DeepSeek may track and fingerprint users.
3. Prompts and responses can be sent to China, and those could include sensitive information when government employees or contractors use the service.
4. Combined with public data, that information could yield "actionable intelligence" on U.S. persons or government programs.
5. The models themselves may contain malware or other vulnerabilities.

## What to watch

- Whether the text published in the Federal Register on Oct. 20 matches the filed notice.
- Whether CISA issues guidance on what counts as a "DeepSeek implementation."
- Whether similar orders extend to other Chinese AI models. CyberScoop reports that this order names only DeepSeek.

## Sources

- [Notice of Order Regarding Exclusion and Removal of DeepSeek Products](https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-21447.pdf) (Federal Register public inspection)
- [DHS to ban DeepSeek from federal civilian agencies](https://cyberscoop.com/dhs-bans-deepseek-federal-agencies/) (CyberScoop)
- [DHS Orders Civilian Agencies to Remove DeepSeek AI Products](https://www.meritalk.com/articles/dhs-orders-civilian-agencies-to-remove-deepseek-ai-products/) (MeriTalk)