Randy Kahnke Talks to Law360 About How Trump Administration Cuts Could Raise Trade Secret Security Concerns

Business litigation partner Randy Kahnke spoke with Law360 about the Trump administration reducing the size of the federal government and the resulting concerns about the safeguarding of trade secrets that companies have disclosed to certain agencies.

Since Trump returned to office in January, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have slashed government jobs at agencies that collect trade secrets as part of their everyday operations, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Law360 noted that there have been no allegations that confidential information provided to a government agency has been disclosed inappropriately or mishandled since DOGE began its cost-cutting mission.

Kahnke expressed that, “we're at the stage where it is unclear how this is going to play out. I think that there is a fair amount of uncertainty that surrounds this work that is being done by DOGE, and there's uncertainty around what is being done with the information that's being accessed."