US DHS orders federal civilian agencies to exclude and remove DeepSeek products, including third-party services built on them
Under the 2018 Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act, DHS ordered DeepSeek and affiliate IT products and services excluded from federal civilian procurements and removed from agency IT, along with third-party products developed using DeepSeek implementations. The notice was published in the Federal Register on Oct 20, 2026, without a deadline or specific security rationale.
In a Federal Register public-inspection notice (Docket DHS-2026-0628), the Department of Homeland Security said the Secretary, acting under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 and its regulations after reviewing a Federal Acquisition Security Council recommendation and evidence, has ordered (1) the exclusion of IT products and services developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd and its affiliates from federal civilian agency procurements, and (2) the removal of all DeepSeek and affiliate products, and third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations, from civilian agency IT.
The notice was filed on Oct 19 and published on Oct 20; implementation contact is CISA's FASCSA Order Implementation Team, and the signed order is on regulations.gov under the docket number. Citing the Wall Street Journal, The Decoder reports that the order sets no removal deadline and names no specific security concern, and that it is unclear what 'developed using DeepSeek implementations' covers or whether model gateways such as OpenRouter are affected.
The order applies to federal civilian executive-branch systems and procurement; the notice itself does not address private companies or individuals. Vendors selling to US civilian agencies with DeepSeek models embedded in their products will want to watch for CISA's implementation guidance.
Sources
- Notice of Order Regarding Exclusion and Removal of DeepSeek Products from Federal Civilian Executive Branch Information Technology Systems and Procurements — U.S. Department of Homeland Security / Federal Register
- US bans Deepseek technology across federal civilian agencies — The Decoder