AI Agent Governance for Federal, State, and Local Government
Government agencies operate under Executive Order 14110 (Safe AI), OMB M-24-10, FedRAMP, and NIST 800-53 controls. AI agents that process government data or execute government functions must demonstrate compliance through verifiable evidence, not self-attestation.
What Goes Wrong Without Controls
A federal agency deploys agents to automate FOIA request processing, IT ticket triage, and procurement document review. Within the first quarter:
- An agent processing FOIA requests sends document contents to an unapproved commercial model API — data leaves the authorized boundary without detection
- A procurement agent approves a contract modification autonomously because no two-person rule was enforced — the modification exceeds the agent's delegated authority
- An IG investigation asks for evidence of agent behavior during a specific incident — the team has CloudWatch logs but nothing cryptographically signed or independently verifiable
Regulatory Mapping
| Requirement | Source | Claw EA Control |
|---|---|---|
| AI risk management | EO 14110, OMB M-24-10 | Work Policy Contracts declare permitted actions; kill switch halts execution |
| Continuous monitoring | FedRAMP, NIST 800-53 CA-7 | Proof bundles per run; Merkle transparency log |
| Access control | NIST 800-53 AC-* | Capability scoped tokens with group-based permissions |
| Separation of duties | NIST 800-53 AC-5 | Two-person rule with signed approval receipts |
| Audit and accountability | NIST 800-53 AU-* | Tamper-evident logs with 7-year retention |
Recommended Control Stack
Two-Person Rule
Require two distinct approvals before high-impact actions. Each approval is a signed receipt with identity and timestamp.
Kill Switch
Immediately halt all agent execution across the fleet. Single command, takes effect within seconds, produces a shutdown receipt.
Forced Dry-Run
Execute the full workflow without committing side effects. Proof bundle captures behavior for review before granting live access.
Tamper-Evident Logs
Hash-linked, append-only transparency log. Any modification to historical entries is detectable by any party.