A Department of Homeland Security notice filed for public inspection on October 19 makes public Exclusion and Removal Order #2026-01, signed by Secretary Markwayne Mullin on July 24, 2026. The order bars federal civilian agencies from buying DeepSeek products and requires them to remove existing ones from their systems.

The reach is broader than DeepSeek itself: it also covers affiliate products and any third-party products or services developed using DeepSeek implementations. DHS acted under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, following a Federal Acquisition Security Council recommendation, with formal Federal Register publication scheduled for October 20.

DHS said DeepSeek's models present 'multiple threat vectors,' warning that use by government employees or vendors may transfer sensitive data to China and could be combined with other records to build actionable intelligence on U.S. persons. The order is limited to civilian executive-branch agencies and excludes national security systems, with a written exception process handled through CISA.