United States Department of the Treasury | Office of the Chief Information Officer

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

EXECUTIVE ORDER 13960 CONSISTENCY 

PLAN

December 2022
ii

Table of Contents

Executive Order 13960: Executive Summary................................................................................. 1

Document Purpose and Scope: ....................................................................................................... 1

Consistency Progress: ..................................................................................................................... 1

Current State: .......................................................................................................................... 1

Consistency Assessment Approach ........................................................................................ 2

Assessment Outcomes ............................................................................................................ 2

Planned Next Steps......................................................................................................................... 2
Executive Order 13960: Executive Summary

Executive Order (EO) 13960, Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the 

Federal Government, was issued on December 8, 2020. The EO encourages the ongoing adoption 

of Artificial Intelligence (AI) throughout the Federal Government. It states that agencies must 

“design, develop, acquire, and use AI in a manner that fosters public trust and confidence while 

protecting privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and American values”.

As such, Section 3 of the EO states that agencies must adhere to these principles in developing AI 

tools: (a) lawful and respectful of our nation’s values; (b) purposeful and performance-driven; (c) 

accurate, reliable, and effective; (d) safe, secure, and resilient; (e) understandable; (f) responsible 

and traceable; (g) regularly monitored; (h) transparent; and (i) accountable.

Document Purpose and Scope:

This document outlines the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s initial approach for establishing 

consistency with EO 13960, progress to date, and next steps. Treasury has designated a 

Responsible AI Official (RAO) and leveraged the suggested best practices associated with the EO 

to guide consistency. 

Consistency Progress:

Treasury (Headquarters) Departmental Offices (DO) resource level limitations dictate the need for 

an iterative approach to governance to ensure success and sustainability. The Office of the Chief 

Information Officer (OCIO) is partnering with the Office of the Chief Data Officer (OCDO) to 

establish the Departmental AI definition, strategy, and ongoing governance to assess compliance 

with EO 13960 requirements.

Current State:

Treasury is drafting a governance plan to comply with EO 13960. Notionally, any artificial 

intelligence (AI) related systems within Treasury will be governed using a federated approach 

similar to how Treasury’s technology portfolio is already managed. While the OCIO operates 

several shared, commodity technology platforms for several Treasury-wide and government-wide 

services, Treasury bureaus manage their individual technology portfolios and mission specific 

systems. We still expect AI to be centrally governed.
2

Consistency Assessment Approach

In July 2022, Treasury OCIO initiated a self-assessment process for Bureau AI leads to provide 

consistency details for active AI use cases across Treasury using the “Suggested Practices” 

assessment and compliance criteria. “Active” was defined as AI use cases in development or in 

operation. Following a federated approach, the AI use cases that were self-identified by the 

Bureaus were assessed. High level outcomes are summarized in the section below.

Assessment Outcomes

• 14 Treasury AI use cases were assessed, 3 of which fall under BEP and 11 of which fall 

under IRS. 

• Most of the use cases were launched (11 out of 14) within the last year; 6 were launched 

within the past 6 months. 

• Consistent with internal governance processes, IRS determined it will not share all AI 

outcomes or design information publicly for most of its use cases. This stems from IRS’s 

need to protect many of its AI use cases from reverse engineering, as they are used for tax 

compliance and fraud. 

• All the AI use cases were deemed not to have a potential impact on civil rights or civil 

liberties. None of the use cases inhibit equal access to opportunities, or to vital services or 

entitlements.

• Both BEP and IRS reported they will use the EO suggested practices and compliance 

criteria to guide bureau-level governance process improvements.

Planned Next Steps

Treasury will strive to execute consistency plans within 180 days from the date of this document 

for the identified AI use cases requiring mitigation. The following steps are planned: 

• The RAO will expand from a single person to a small group inclusive of the Chief Data 

Officer, and Bureau AI leadership (as appropriate). 

• Establish a governance approach to drive Treasury AI definition and strategy

March 2022: 

Initial Data Call

Treasury OCIO reviewed EO 13960 

guidance and sent out a data call to 

collect an inventory of the Artificial 

Intelligence use cases Treasurywide. This data call provided a 

centralized artifact with details of 

these AI efforts, including project 

details and points-of-contact. 

July 2022: 

Analysis

Treasury OCIO initiated a selfassessment process for bureau AI 

leads to provide consistency details 

for active (in development/ 

implemented) AI use cases. 

In parallel, Treasury OCIO is 

partnering with the Office of the 

Chief Data Officer (OCDO) to 

establish the Department AI 

strategy and ongoing governance in 

order to assess compliance with EO 

13960 requirements.

August 2022 and beyond: 

Continuous Improvement

August: Treasury OCIO updated the 

AI use case inventory and 

submitted initial compliance plan. 

Next 180 Days +: Treasury will work 

to implement the approved 

compliance plans within 180 days 

of plan approval, subject to existing 

resource levels.

Over time, the Treasury-wide AI 

governance community will 

evaluate new and existing use cases 

to ensure adherence to best 

practices and guidance, while using 

this cutting-edge technology.
3

• Draft Treasury AI Compliance Principles