RELEASE: Gottheimer Calls for Government-Wide Review of IDEMIA’s Role in TSA, CBP, FBI, and DOD Identity Systems

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) sent a letter to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Edward C. Forst and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought requesting a comprehensive, government-wide audit of every federal contract involving IDEMIA, the technology contractor whose software failure resulted in approximately 6,600 noncitizens being added to New Jersey’s voter rolls.

The text of the letter can be found here.

The error, which New Jersey officials identified on July 21, 2026, stemmed from a malfunction at the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission that mistakenly registered noncitizens to vote when they applied for driver’s licenses and identification cards between June 2023 and June 2024, during the previous State Administration. 

Gottheimer’s letter emphasizes that the problem extends far beyond New Jersey. IDEMIA holds a sweeping portfolio of federal identity and security contracts, including: 

• TSA’s Universal Enrollment Services provider for PreCheck and other screening programs.
• Border Patrol’s (CBP) biometric entry-exit mission.
• FBI’s fingerprint submission system.
• Driver’s license provider in 36 states.
• Department of Defense’s identity operations.

This is also not the first time IDEMIA has faced backlash from its technology. IDEMIA was embroiled in a scandal in South Africa, where the airport company terminated its contract in August 2024, amid a government investigation, and the company faced a multimillion-rand damages claim arising from that procurement.

“This incident raises serious concerns about the reliability of IDEMIA’s software, the company’s quality control practices, and the federal government’s reliance on a single contractor to manage highly sensitive identity and biometric systems,” Gottheimer wrote.

“A single vendor is thus embedded, simultaneously, in how the government screens travelers, secures ports and hazardous-materials handlers, processes travelers at the border, runs criminal background checks, issues civilian identity credentials, and supports military and intelligence identity operations,” the letter states.

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