Watchdog Report Requested by E&C Leaders Finds Disposal of High-Risk Laboratory Equipment by HHS, USDA, GSA Exposed U.S. to Severe Bioterrorism Threat
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, issued the following statement in response to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealing that in fiscal years 2022 through 2025, federal agencies sold unneeded laboratory equipment—that is subject to export controls because it could be used for malicious purposes—to apparent resellers. This led to the items potentially being acquired and redeployed by lone wolf bad actors or even adversarial foreign nations, putting our country at a heightened national security and biosecurity risk.
According to GAO, “[w]hile the donation and sale of unneeded federal laboratory equipment may increase access to resources needed to conduct scientific research, it may also present biosecurity risks . . . Many types of laboratory equipment are considered to be ‘dual use,’” meaning the equipment has a legitimate use but can also be “misused by bad actors for malicious purposes, such as biological terrorism or warfare.”
The 2022 National Biodefense Strategy states that biological threats “are among the most serious threats facing the U.S. and allied nations across the world,” and that the U.S. “must address the risk of intentional misuse of advances in biotechnology and threats posed by terrorist groups or adversaries seeking to use biological weapons.” One goal of implementing the strategy is that the U.S. “will strengthen biosecurity to prevent both state and nonstate actors from obtaining equipment for nefarious purposes.”
“With advances in AI and synthetic biology, bad actors and foreign adversaries of the U.S. already possess enhanced access to scientific research information. This underscores the need for the U.S. government to more carefully monitor and control disposal of federal laboratory equipment that could supercharge nefarious plots,” said Chairman Guthrie. “The GAO report provides a path forward to remedy vulnerabilities in the federal lab equipment disposal program. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has similarly examined ways we can strengthen biosecurity in the digital age, and we will continue to explore how best to implement additional safeguards and strengthen existing controls. We commend the Trump Administration for promptly responding to the GAO recommendations.”
BACKGROUND:
- At the behest of a February 9, 2024 request from Chairman Guthrie and other Republican leaders, GAO conducted an investigation, including undercover work, that demonstrated how risky federal lab equipment—freeze dryers and mass spectrometers, specifically—was sold to individuals and companies, some of which appeared to be resellers, outside federal controls that are aimed at preventing certain countries of concern from being able to develop biological weapons or gain a military advantage.
- The Department of Commerce maintains the Commerce Control List, a list of certain types of laboratory equipment for which licenses are required for exports to certain countries of concern. According to regulations, “export controls on certain laboratory equipment are maintained to oppose the proliferation and illegal use of biological weapons.”
- “Most of the experts” that GAO spoke to “identified 16 additional types [of equipment] that [] could present risk” that were not included on the Commerce Control List.
- In its review of FY 2022-2025 General Services Administration (GSA) data, GAO found that “few sales of laboratory equipment were subject to export controls and agencies did not notify GSA as required.”
- GAO also found that “[b]iosecurity risks associated with disposal of laboratory equipment include creation of a biological weapon and acquisition of sensitive information.”
- Through undercover work using fictitious identities, GAO was able to bid or request pieces of lab equipment of concern, demonstrating “the potential risks associated with laboratory equipment disposal.”
- The report focused on three agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the GSA. All three agencies generally agreed with GAO’s recommendations; HHS has already started taking immediate action to address GAO’s recommendations.
- HHS and USDA run research laboratories that dispose of laboratory equipment. GSA implements the process of disposing of unneeded federal laboratory equipment.
- The Committee has previously engaged in activity examining solutions to enhance biosecurity in America. These critical findings and subsequent actions taken by involved agencies are crucial in protecting the public health and national security of our country and preventing adversarial nations from acquiring equipment that could be used for bioterrorism against the United States.
- On December 17, 2025, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on how AI and biotechnology advancements affect biosecurity and efforts to mitigate risks.
