The U.S. Treasury Department has canceled $21 million in contracts with Tysons-based consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, claiming that the firm failed to protect sensitive taxpayer data.
All of the firm’s 31 contracts with the Treasury were cut in an attempt to increase “Americans’ trust in government,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said today (Monday) in a press release.
“Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service,” Bessent said.
The Treasury cited a past criminal case against Charles E. Littlejohn, a former Booz Allen employee who worked on a contract with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and admitted to leaking the tax records of President Donald Trump in 2019.
According to the Associated Press, the leaked data was shared with the New York Times and ProPublica.
Littlejohn “stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers,” according to the Treasury, with approximately 406,000 taxpayers being affected by his actions.
In 2024, Littlejohn was ultimately sentenced to five years in federal prison.
“President Trump has entrusted his cabinet to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and canceling these contracts is an essential step to increasing Americans’ trust in government,” Bessent said.
In a statement sent to FFXnow, a Booz Allen spokesperson noted that the company has “consistently condemned” Littlejohn’s actions and has “zero tolerance for violations of the law.”
“We have consistently condemned in the strongest possible terms the actions of Charles Littlejohn, who was active with the company years ago. Booz Allen has zero tolerance for violations of the law and operates under the highest ethical and professional guidelines. When Littlejohn’s criminal conduct occurred more than five years ago, it was on government systems, not Booz Allen systems. Booz Allen stores no taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks.
Booz Allen fully supported the U.S. government in its investigation, and the government expressed gratitude for our assistance, which led to Littlejohn’s prosecution. We look forward to discussing this matter with Treasury.”
While Booz Allen Hamilton has been based at 8283 Greensboro Drive in Tysons since 1997, the company announced last November that it will relocate its headquarters in fall 2027 to one of the new Reston Row offices near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. The Tysons office is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2028.
The full statement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury is below.
Today, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced the cancelation of all contracts with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. The Treasury Department currently has 31 separate contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton totaling $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations.
“President Trump has entrusted his cabinet to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and canceling these contracts is an essential step to increasing Americans’ trust in government,” said Secretary Bessent. “Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service.”
Most notably, between 2018 and 2020, Charles Edward Littlejohn — an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton — stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers. To date, the IRS determined that the data breach affected approximately 406,000 taxpayers. Littlejohn has pled guilty to felony charges for disclosing confidential tax information without authorization.
The Treasury contract cancellations continue a trend of the Trump administration retaliating against individuals and companies believed to be “enemies of the president and his allies,” the Associated Press notes.
Earlier this month, FBI agents raided Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home in Alexandria and seized her electronic devices, allegedly for an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of taking home classified government documents.
Federal prosecutors were temporarily prohibited from reviewing the devices by a judge’s ruling on Jan. 21 after the Post challenged their seizure as unconstitutional.
Previously an education reporter, Natanson has recently focused on the Trump administration’s changes to the federal workforce.
