1. United States
  2. Va.
  3. Letter

Demand Hearings on the Secret National Design Studio

To: Sen. Kaine, Sen. Warner, Rep. McClellan

From: A constituent in North Chesterfield, VA

May 30

Schedule hearings on the National Design Studio — a secret White House office run by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia that is operating outside every accountability structure Congress put in place after Watergate. Gebbia reports directly to chief of staff Susie Wiles, requires no Senate confirmation, files no financial disclosures, and faces no inspector general oversight. Researcher Audrey Henson documented 36 violations of federal law across just 12 of its sites, then found at least 40 more. The scope of what this office controls is alarming. It owns the State Department's passport website — currently collecting biometric-quality photos through White House infrastructure with no privacy notice. DOGE member Akash Bobba is building a federal voter registration system on vote.gov while admitting he doesn't know what data the government will retain, and existing law bars the White House from overseeing voter registration entirely. A security certificate for vote.gov was dated April 10, but DOJ told a federal court the infrastructure didn't exist — someone lied to a judge. This isn't a policy disagreement. It's a secret office with access to passport photos, voter data, and agency communications, accountable to no one. Congress needs to get Gebbia and Bobba under oath before more of this infrastructure goes live.

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