News from Multiple Perspectives

At least 40 medical workers among those killed as rights groups urge Israel to end attacks on Lebanon health facilities.

US Defense Secretary insisted Washington is meeting its objectives against Iran despite escalating attacks on Gulf.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hints war funding may change, leaving timeline decisions to President Trump.

A lectern awaits the arrival of House Democrats to speak on the health care funding fight on the steps of the House at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) 2026-03-19T15:03:47Z NEW YORK (AP) — Lately, Priscilla Brown has had to choose between properly managing her Type 2 diabetes and affording other necessities, like gas in her car. Some days, she takes half or a third of her prescribed insulin dose — just to stretch it out longer. “Sometimes I don’t even take my medicine,” said the 48-year-old truck dispatcher in Orlando, Florida. “It’s so much with insurance, it’s crazy.” About 8 in 10 Americans, like Brown, who re-enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage say their health care costs are higher this year, including about half who say their costs are “a lot” higher, according to a new survey from the health care research nonprofit KFF. A main reason for increased costs was the Dec. 31 expiration of enhanced tax credits that had offset premiums for most enrollees. For Brown and others, those spiking costs are having real impacts on daily life . Of the 1,117 Americans surveyed who had ACA marketplace coverage in 2025, including those who dropped coverage or changed plans, about 55% said they’re planning to deal with health care costs by cutting spending on food and other basic household needs. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Democrats in Congress last year had fought to keep the COVID-era subsidies but faced pushback from Republican leadership. In January, momentum toward a bipartisan compromise fell apart — leaving some 23 million ACA enrollees without relief as they faced higher premiums or made tough decisions to disenroll or downgrade plans. The new poll, which was conducted in February and March and followed up with respondents from a survey conducted last year to learn how they’re grappling with health insurance now, offers a glimpse at how Congress’ unresolved fight continues to strain regular Americans — even as many federal lawmakers have, at least for the moment, turned to other priorities. Many ACA enrollees are anxious about medical costs Last year, Brown paid zero dollars toward her health insurance premiums. This year, her new plan costs $17 a month — and has a higher deductible. Brown said she learned this week that her new refill of medicine was going to cost more than $150 and “almost passed out.” She filled her car with only half the gas she needed, knowing she’d need money for the medications. Anxieties about unexpected medical costs are acute, the poll shows. About three-quarters of people who had ACA insurance last year now say they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about paying for emergency care or hospitalization, while about half said the same about routine medical visits or prescription drugs. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Some enrollees switch to lower-tier plans, while others drop coverage entirely Most of last year’s enrollees, about 7 in 10, stayed on ACA health insurance — but that includes about 3 in 10 who changed plans within the marketplace. Meanwhile, about 2 in 10 became eligible for coverage through their employer, Medicare or Medicaid or purchased insurance outside of the ACA marketplace, which tends to be less comprehensive. About 1 in 10 of last year’s enrollees said they dropped coverage altogether and are now uninsured, the poll shows. Eric LeVasseur, a 63-year-old software developer in Seal Beach, California, was part of that group. He said when he saw his mid-tier, silver-level plan was going to nearly triple to $1,200 per month, “it was not something my budget could absorb.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Many enrollees blame health insurance companies and politicians About 7 in 10 returning ACA enrollees facing higher costs say they blame health insurance companies “a lot,” while just over half put “a lot” of blame on Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump and pharmaceutical companies. About one-third blamed Democrats in Congress or hospitals “a lot,” while about 1 in 10 placed this level of blame on doctors or employers. Respondents who identified with a political party and saw costs rise overwhelmingly blamed the opposing party’s lawmakers “a lot.” James Mako, an engineer in Boca Raton, Florida, and a political independent, said he blames the Republican Party. His $500-per-month premiums were poised to double this year for his silver-level ACA health plan. So, he downgraded to a bronze-level plan with a higher deductible. Mako said he’s not convinced by the ideas Republicans have floated to fix the problem, like funneling money into health savings accounts . freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “I think they’re just sales gimmicks,” he said. “The subsidies should be back.” — The KFF poll was conducted Feb. 12-Mar. 2, 2026, among 1,117 U.S. adults who had Marketplace insurance in 2025, using a sample drawn from two probability-based panels. All of the respondents participated in the 2025 KFF Marketplace Survey and were recontacted for the new survey. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. ALI SWENSON Swenson covers politics and the information landscape for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., the White House pick for homeland security secretary, testifies during Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) 2026-03-19T14:58:39Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Markwayne Mullin moved a step closer to becoming President Donald Trump’s next homeland security secretary after a Senate committee Thursday narrowly advanced his nomination. The 8-7 vote came after a contentious hearing Wednesday and sent the Cabinet nomination to the full Senate, which could act to confirm the Oklahoma Republican next week. That vote included a “no” from the Republican chairman, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and a “yes” from a Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. The approval comes as the parties are fighting bitterly over the policies of the Department of Homeland Security, leading to a funding lapse that is now in its 34th day. During his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Mullin tried to make the case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous tenure of Kristi Noem, Trump’s first DHS secretary. Mullin also signaled support for Trump’s immigration priorities, which are central to the funding standoff after the death of at least three American citizens at the hands of federal agents. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Mullin’s hearing was unusually combative and came close to going off the rails as he engaged in heated exchanges with some Democrats as well as Paul. In addition to a lengthy exchange over Mullin’s failure to disclose what he characterized as a “classified” congressional trip while a House member, Paul opened the hearing with a fiery statement challenging Mullin’s fitness to lead DHS. Paul pointed to comments Mullin made after a funding fight, when he called Paul a “freaking snake” and said he understood why a neighbor had tackled Paul in a lawn care dispute. That incident happened several years ago, and Paul suffered multiple broken ribs and later had surgeries he linked to the attack. “I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force?” Paul said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Mullin refused to back down. “For you to say I’m a liar, sir, that’s not accurate,” Mullin said. Paul later said he would not vote for Mullin’s confirmation. Fetterman, who has frequently challenged his own party, said his vote was “rooted in a strong committed, constructive working relationship with Senator Mullin for our nation’s security.” ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP MEG KINNARD Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina. twitter instagram mailto

People watch the sunset from the Malecón during a blackout in Havana, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) 2026-03-19T14:07:50Z MIAMI (AP) — The Cuban Communist Party has shown an astonishing resilience over six decades in power. Whether it’s the United States trade embargo to counter Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, or the widespread starvation of the “special period” that followed the breakup of its Cold War patron, the Soviet Union, both U.S. hostilities and calamities of its own making have proven no match for the country’s leadership. But perhaps none of those crises pose as grave a threat as the one triggered by an all-but-declared naval siege by the Trump administration as it seeks to force regime change in the wake of its successful ousting of Cuba’s longtime ally Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro . Even as he fights a war with Iran, President Donald Trump this week said he believes he’ll have “the honor of taking Cuba” soon. While it wasn’t clear exactly what he meant, the U.S. is looking for President Miguel Díaz-Canel to leave power as part of ongoing talks with Havana that could avert some kind of U.S. military intervention. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Without declaring a formal blockade, Trump and his administration have already crippled trade with the island. In March, supplies of oil, food and other goods to the island collapsed, with no foreign-originating tankers arriving to Cuba, according to shipping data analyzed by Windward, a maritime intelligence firm. The volume of port calls, which includes tankers moving from one Cuban port to another, averaged around 50 per month in 2025 but fell to just 11 in March - all of them arriving from domestic ports. It was the lowest since 2017. Moreover, little relief is in sight: with no tankers on their way and only three container ships — originating in China, India and the Netherlands — reporting Cuba as their intended harbor though their destinations could change. The stranglehold is disrupting the lives of Cuba’s 11 million residents, who are enduring massive blackouts and a breakdown in medical care due to a lack of fuel to power ambulances and hospital generators. The country, one of the most heavily reliant in the world on oil to generate electricity, produces barely 40% of the oil needed to cover its energy needs. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Ian Ralby, head of I.R. Consilium, a U.S.-based consultancy focused on maritime security, said the United States’ aggressiveness will not endear Trump to Cubans long eager for change. “Every Cuban resident is suffering the acute inaccessibility to fuel and all the knock-on consequences in terms of access to food, hospitals and free movement,” he said. The sudden halt in trade has taken place without the White House reapplying restrictions on exports to Cuba that were last loosened during the Biden administration. Indeed, shipments of U.S.-produced poultry, pork and other foodstuffs to Cuba — which account for the vast majority of U.S. exports to the country — last year soared to $490 million, the most since 2009. Non-agricultural exports and humanitarian donations, much of it to Cuba’s emerging private sector, more than doubled. But emboldened by the U.S. capture of Maduro, Trump has gradually escalated his rhetoric on Cuba, first suggesting he would pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country and more recently telling conservative allies from Latin America that he would “take care” of Cuba once the war with Iran winds down. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); While neither he nor the administration has articulated what exactly the pledge means , the continued presence in the Caribbean of U.S. warships used in the strike against Maduro has led companies and countries that do business with Cuba to self-police. “Nobody wants to be on the radar of Trump’s Truth Social account,” said John Kavulich, president of the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. In the run-up to the U.S. military’s ousting of Maduro during a nighttime raid on Jan. 3, Trump declared that the U.S. would block all Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and even seized a few tankers to enforce what it called a “quarantine,” borrowing a term used by President John F. Kennedy during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Later in the month, Trump signed an executive order threatening tariffs on any country that supplies oil to Cuba. The warning alarmed officials in Mexico, who have long opposed U.S. policy toward Cuba and where state-run oil company Pemex emerged as a valuable lifeline last year as Venezuelan oil exports declined. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Cuba has upped its rhetoric against what it calls a “fuel blockade” by the U.S. But the Trump administration has disputed that characterization, no doubt aware that according to international law any naval operation seen as punishing civilians is considered an illegal act of aggression outside wartime. “Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign state — nobody dictates what we do,” Díaz-Canel said in a social media post in January. “Cuba does not attack; we are the victims of U.S. attacks for 66 years and we will prepare ourselves to defend the homeland with our last drop of blood.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Amid mounting criticism that U.S. actions are starving Cuba, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has started to walk back some of the administration’s threats. In January, the State Department sent $3 million in food kits, water purification tablets and other humanitarian assistance items to the island. Then last month, the White House said it would allow U.S. companies to send fuel — including Venezuelan oil — to private businesses in Cuba. The goal, said Rubio, is to encourage the development of the nation’s small private sector. “The reason why those industries have not flourished in Cuba is because the regime has not allowed them to flourish,” Rubio said when announcing the private sales. But it’s unclear if any companies have started fuel shipments and critics say the strategy is unrealistic as most Cuban companies lack capital and the Cuban government has a monopoly on gasoline distribution. John Felder, owner of Premier Automotive Export, a Maryland-based business that has been selling electric cars and scooters to Cuba since 2012, said most Cubans, even in their current anguish, are fearful of what lies ahead. “U.S. policies have created the most resilient people in the world and yet all they want to do is buy things in Miami like you and me,” said Felder, who just returned from a four-day business trip to Havana and says he’s never seen conditions worse. “They want change but they don’t want to be controlled by the United States.” JOSHUA GOODMAN Goodman is a Miami-based investigative reporter who writes about the intersection of crime, corruption, drug trafficking and politics in Latin America. He previously spent two decades reporting from South America. twitter mailto

President Idris Mahamat Déby orders the military to be on high alert and a "total closure" of the border.

What does Trump's Truth Social post after gas field attacks tell us about US-Israeli alignment?

News of the invitation emerges after the monarch acknowledged "a lot of abuse" during the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

A group of 12 Arab and Islamic countries on Thursday condemned Iran’s "heinous" attacks, denouncing missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure and warning Tehran against further escalation. The foreign ministers of Qatar, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia , Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates issued the joint statement after a consultative meeting in Riyadh. The countries accused Iran of deliberately targeting residential areas, oil facilities, airports and diplomatic premises across the region. The ministers reaffirmed what they called the right of affected countries to defend themselves under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and urged Iran to immediately halt its attacks and abide by international law. US 'LOCKED AND LOADED' TO DESTROY IRAN’S 'CROWN JEWEL' 'IF WE WANT,' TRUMP WARNS They also called on Tehran to respect their territorial sovereignty , cease support for affiliated militias in Arab countries and avoid actions that could threaten maritime security, including in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, a key global shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The statement further expressed support for Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty , while also condemning Israel’s actions in the country and its "expansionist policy in the region." "The Ministers reaffirm their commitment to continuing intensive consultation and coordination in this regard, to monitor developments and assess emerging issues in a way that ensure the formulation of common positions and the adoption of necessary legitimate measures and procedures to protect their security, stability, and sovereignty, and to halt the Iranian heinous attacks on their territories," the joint statement reads. IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CLAIMS TRUMP LAUNCHED WAR 'BECAUSE IT IS FUN' It comes a day after Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, prompting Iranian retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, including Doha’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest LNG production facility. Oil prices surged Thursday morning following the strikes, with Brent crude rising to $114.08 a barrel and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude climbing to $97.41. RUSSIA SHIPS FUEL TO CUBA USING ‘SPOOFING’ TACTIC CHALLENGING TRUMP EMBARGO: REPORTS President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Israel would halt further strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field unless Tehran escalates, warning that the United States could respond with overwhelming force if Qatar’s LNG facilities are targeted again. "The United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before," Trump wrote. "I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar’s LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so."

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is little more than an "empty entity" who is not at the helm of the regime, according to Israeli national security sources. The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a targeted Israeli strike on Feb. 28, is also linked to what officials describe as a "misfunctioning" regime. "The new leader is an empty entity," Kobi Michael, a defense analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute , told Fox News Digital. TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN 'VERY HARD' AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY '90 PERCENT' OF REGIME MISSILES "Mojtaba Khamenei does not appear in public, but we also have reliable information that he does not control or lead the regime or what has been left of the regime. "The current Iranian leadership is broken, confused and is almost misfunctioning." Mojtaba reportedly escaped death by minutes when his father was killed Feb. 28, leaving the compound for a walk shortly before an Israeli missile strike, according to leaked audio accessed by The Telegraph . The audio, reportedly from a March 12 meeting, revealed details about the strikes that also took out several members of the Khamenei family. Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol for Khamenei’s office, is supposedly heard in the audio telling senior leaders that Mojtaba sustained "a minor injury to his leg." Since being named supreme leader, Mojtaba has not made one public appearance. Instead, a message by him was read on Iranian state TV, warning of continued strikes and urging Gulf nations to shut down U.S. bases. ISRAEL KILLS IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE MINISTER WHO SURVIVED INITIAL STRIKE, OFFICIAL SAYS Other reports claimed Mojtaba was in critical condition or even in a coma, though Iranian officials have insisted that the new supreme leader is in good health. Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge Wednesday after the killing of senior security official Ali Larijani in an Israeli strike. "Such acts of terror only reflect the enemies’ hostility and will strengthen the resolve of the Islamic nation. Undoubtedly, justice will be served," the statement said. Larijani, one of Iran’s top security figures, was killed after Israeli intelligence reportedly located him and other officials on the outskirts of Tehran. Other senior figures have also been killed in recent strikes, including Basij militia leader Gholamreza Soleimani , according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). "This is not a new phase, but a continuing effort and a very successful and impressive one and a crucial component of the strategy meant to weaken the Iranian regime," Michael said of the continued strikes at regime figures. "This is to the degree that it will not be able to reconstitute itself and/or to become again a severe threat and destabilizing player in the broader Middle East ." US-SANCTIONED MOJTABA KHAMENEI NAMED IRAN’S NEXT SUPREME LEADER AFTER FATHER’S DEATH: REPORTS After the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes, President Donald Trump told the Iranian people that their "moment of freedom" was at hand. "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take," Trump said, suggesting the U.S. would help bring down the Iranian regime. "At the very same time, by weakening the regime and paralyzing its capacities generally speaking and its domestic control specifically, the U.S. and Israel are facilitating the required conditions for the Iranian people to topple the regime," Michael added. "This is the ultimate victory in their eyes, and the route to this destination is that they are trying to increase any damage wherever they can."

Iran’s potentially most dangerous nuclear site is buried as deep as 100 meters below a granite mountain, according to new assessments, and one nonproliferation expert warned it must be "neutralized" before the U.S. war with Iran ends. This came as new figures released Wednesday by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) show that U.S. and Israeli forces launched Operation Epic Fury in late February and have since struck more than 7,800 targets in Iran as the conflict enters Day 18. "Before the United States and Israel end major combat operations against Iran, they must complete two urgent tasks," Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a policy briefing . WHILE UN ISSUES MIXED SIGNALS, WITKOFF EXPOSES IRAN'S NUCLEAR EVASION ‘PRIDE’ "First, they must neutralize Pickaxe Mountain . Second, they must recover or eliminate highly enriched uranium stocks to prevent them from falling into the hands of surviving regime elements, other adversarial states or terrorist proxies." High-resolution satellite imagery from mid-February shows Iran's accelerated efforts to reinforce the site at Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, known as "Pickaxe Mountain," against potential airstrikes, according to the Institute for Science and International Security. "At one of the eastern tunnel entrances, rock and soil can be seen pushed back and leveled on top of the tunnel portal," the institute's report said. "Additionally, over the last month, a concrete-reinforced headworks for the tunnel entrance extension was added. This allows for additional overburden in the form of rock, soil or concrete." STRIKES MAY SET IRAN BACK — BUT LIKELY WON'T END NUCLEAR PROGRAM, UN WATCHDOG CHIEF SAYS The report added that "these efforts strengthen the tunnel portals and provide additional protection against an airstrike ," noting visible piles of construction materials near the entrances. Preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon is one of President Donald Trump ’s stated war aims. In June 2025, U.S. forces carried out strikes against nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Iran had roughly 441 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% as of June 2025, enough material, if further enriched to weapons-grade levels, for multiple nuclear weapons, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency . Rafael Grossi, its director general, also said March 9 that the U.N. watchdog believes roughly 200 kilograms of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile are still stored in deep tunnels at a nuclear complex outside Isfahan. SATELLITE IMAGES REVEAL ACTIVITY AT IRAN NUCLEAR SITES BOMBED BY US, ISRAEL Grossi added that additional quantities of highly enriched uranium are believed to be at another nuclear center in Natanz, where Iran has constructed a new fortified underground facility at Pickaxe Mountain. On March 9, Trump pointed to Iran’s efforts to resume nuclear activity at a deeper site and said Tehran has continued pursuing a nuclear weapon "even after we obliterated their key nuclear sites ." "They were starting work at another site, a different site … that was protected by granite. … They wanted to go a lot deeper, and they started the process," Trump said, according to reports . According to Stricker, the "different site" referenced by Trump is Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran has said it has been building a centrifuge assembly plant at the site since 2021. The site is a mile from its Natanz enrichment plant. "The size of the facility, as well as the protection provided by the tall mountain, raised immediate concerns about whether additional sensitive activities are planned, such as uranium enrichment," the Institute for Science and International Security also noted in its report. At the beginning of March, a vehicle was struck outside the site, presumably by Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported, before suggesting that the vehicle strike was evidence the U.S. and Israel are watching the mountain carefully.

The victims are the first Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to be killed as a result of the Middle East war.

Lasting damage to Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export plant, would have big consequences for the global energy market.

The request, which the White House has not submitted to Congress, is already encountering some resistance.

Dr. Adam Ratner hovered over a gravely ill infant in a New York City intensive care unit on a grim day in 2022. The 3-month-old girl spiked a fever two days earlier and had become lethargic. Soon she was having seizures and struggling to breathe. She didn’t register Ratner’s towering frame or the bright hospital lights. Her eyes stared up and to the right, eerily frozen.  He ran his hand over the soft spot on her head, which should have been flat. Instead, it bulged, a sign that too much fluid was building up inside her skull.  The baby’s life was in danger, and Ratner needed to figure out why. He worried the culprit was bacterial meningitis, an infection of the membranes that protect the brain. What came back on her lab tests was something out of the history books. The infant’s meningitis was caused by invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, a type of bacteria that used to kill nearly 1,000 children a year in the U.S. A shot introduced in the late 1980s was so effective that Ratner, a veteran pediatric infectious disease doctor, was among the generations of physicians who had never seen a case. But the baby’s parents, Ratner learned, had chosen not to vaccinate her. Disheartened, he told his colleagues, “This should be a never event.” It wasn’t. The following year, Ratner treated another infant with Hib, then another, each of them unvaccinated. Two went home, but one had to be discharged to a rehabilitation facility. That 5-month-old boy had huge black pupils that didn’t respond to light, and he needed a ventilator to breathe. Ratner and his colleagues noted an “ absence of brain stem reflexes ,” indicating severe damage. The U.S. government took a half century to build a vaccination system that shielded children from such a fate. Its success depended on two fundamental pillars: parents trusting in vaccines and children having access to them. Both are now in peril, thanks in no small part to the man steering America’s health policy. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who founded an antivaccine group and once likened the immunization of children to a holocaust , is transforming a government that long championed the lifesaving benefits of shots into one that spreads doubts about their safety here and abroad.  Kennedy is also considering changes that could prompt the few companies that make vaccines for American kids to abandon the U.S. market, leaving parents who want the shots unable to get them. The threat to vaccine access reaches across the globe after Kennedy yanked the government’s $1.6 billion pledge to the aid group that provides shots for the world’s poorest children. For decades, the U.S. had funded such work not just as a humanitarian mission but as a way to keep Americans safe from unchecked contagions. Kennedy’s efforts to reshape vaccine policies have been well chronicled, but ProPublica wanted to take a broader look at how the changes might affect Americans’ health in the years to come. We found that long-forgotten plagues have roared back, killing and maiming children in parts of the world where access to vaccines or trust in them faltered. What seemed like subtle changes to a country’s vaccine policies had disastrous consequences years later.  Even in places that offer highly advanced health care, doctors have felt impotent trying to undo the damage when these horrors return. Modern medicine can’t reverse paralysis from polio. Surgeons can intervene when a baby is born blind, deaf and with heart defects after being exposed to rubella in the womb, but the child is still likely to face a life shaped by disability. ProPublica reviewed hundreds of studies on vaccines and outbreaks of the diseases they prevent and interviewed more than three dozen people who have worked on U.S. immunization programs here and abroad, dating back to the days of smallpox. Some had never spoken publicly about their experiences. They shared a pit-of-the-stomach dread that American children will end up fighting for their lives against infections that have long been preventable.  “I think there always was a worst-case scenario,” said Dr. Melinda Wharton, who retired last September after more than three decades leading immunization programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I don’t think I imagined it could or would be this bad.” This week, Kennedy’s agency indicated it planned to appeal a federal court ruling that halted, at least temporarily, some of his changes. Among those was the decision to drop six diseases from the routine childhood immunization schedule. HHS declined to make Kennedy available for an interview. In an emailed response to detailed questions, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said that the agency has not limited access to or insurance coverage for vaccines. During the prior administration, federal health agencies “told the public that questioning vaccine policy was off limits,” Nixon said. “That posture contributed to a collapse in trust in U.S. health care.” “Secretary Kennedy believes that trust is rebuilt through an open review of safety data, the willingness to ask the hard questions, and ensuring the American people have all emerging information as soon as we know it,” he said. Vaccination rates have fallen in large swaths of the country. Resentful of how government institutions responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans lost trust in public health leaders . Antivaccine activists spread misinformation and recast the once-fringe practice of refusing shots as an exercise in “medical freedom.”  A medical team assesses an infant for measles in Spartanburg, South Carolina, this year. The Washington Post via Getty Images Now the U.S. is experiencing a surge in measles not seen in three decades. There have been more than 3,600 cases across 46 states and three deaths since January last year. The virus spread so fast in South Carolina this year that some medical teams had to examine infected patients in their cars to protect vulnerable people in their waiting rooms, like they did during the worst days of COVID-19. Measles, among the most contagious diseases, is typically the first to infect undervaccinated communities and serves as a warning that other scourges will follow.  That’s what happened in New York City where antivaccine forces distributed illustrated handouts that seeded fear in Orthodox Jewish communities. Ratner saw a direct line between a loss of trust and the sick children in his ICU — first with measles in 2018 and 2019 , then with Hib a few years later.  Now the villainization of vaccines isn’t coming from pamphlets passed out on a Brooklyn street corner. It’s coming from the highest health offices in the U.S. government.  “I’m worried,” Ratner said, “that we’re going back to a time where people die in childhood.” The U.S. has been a leader on vaccination since the nation’s founding.  During the Revolutionary War, George Washington ordered troops to be inoculated against smallpox, which had ravaged the Continental Army and was scaring away recruits . Washington knew the perils of the disease: His face was pocked with scars from his own teenage infection. The inoculation, the country’s first immunization mandate, took a primitive form. A sore from a smallpox patient was lanced, then the pus was inserted under a healthy person’s skin. Though some people died, the resulting infection was, for the vast majority, milder than the type caught in a bunkhouse or on a battlefield. Washington gave the order in February 1777, “ keeping the matter as secret as possible ” so that the British wouldn’t attack his bedridden troops during their monthlong recovery. Had he not carried out the inoculation, many historians have concluded, the British may have won . Nearly two centuries later, in the throes of the Cold War, CDC scientists teamed up with their counterparts from America’s archenemy, the Soviet Union, to wipe smallpox from the planet. They worked through the World Health Organization to track the virus in cities, rainforests and war zones, vaccinating those at risk. Four U.S. presidents, Democrats and Republicans, backed the work until the disease that had haunted humans since the days of the pharaohs was gone. Vaccines, for decades, weren’t politically divisive. They were so uncontroversial that McDonald’s restaurants in the 1990s put the childhood immunization schedule on their tray liners. When the nation’s immunization program was in trouble in the 1980s, Republicans and Democrats stepped in to save it. Vaccine makers were abandoning the U.S. market after a flood of lawsuits alleged that the shot used at the time to protect children from diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough caused profoundly disabling seizures. Scientists later discovered genetic causes of some of the most devastating forms of epilepsy, but parents who sued back then won big verdicts and settlements. At one point pediatricians could only buy that shot from a single company , and there were shortages. The U.S. also was down to just one manufacturer for the measles-mumps-rubella shot and one for the polio vaccine.  “If there is a fire tomorrow in the plant where the polio vaccine is manufactured, what would happen?” Rep. Henry Waxman asked the CDC director during a 1984 House subcommittee hearing. “We would have a shortage,” the director answered. An exasperated Waxman shot back: “Are we going to then start putting money into iron lungs for polio victims?”  A liberal Democrat from California, Waxman for years worked with Sen. Paula Hawkins, a conservative Florida Republican, on legislation that stopped the exodus of vaccine makers by limiting their liability. Launched in 1988, the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program pays people who suffer rare but serious side effects, using money from a special tax on certain shots. The program maintains a table of injuries that are eligible for quicker payouts, and a dedicated vaccine court rules on cases involving health problems not listed on the table.  Those who don’t like what they are offered can still sue vaccine makers in traditional civil courts, but a Supreme Court ruling significantly limited the types of cases that can win there.  Just as the compensation program was getting off the ground, measles laid bare a different weakness in the immunization system. The disease tore through American cities, hitting Black and Hispanic preschoolers especially hard. Between 1989 and 1991, there were more than 55,000 cases and 123 deaths .  In June 1991, President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, stepped into the White House Rose Garden with a message for “ every parent everywhere in America ”: “Please, make sure your child is immunized.”  He announced that a special team of health officials was investigating why so many kids were missing their shots. “While some say each generation repeats the mistakes of the last, no generation in America should suffer the plagues of the past,” Bush said. The problem was access. Parents couldn’t afford the vaccines given at pediatricians’ offices. Bush’s successor, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, ushered in a program that to this day offers free shots through local doctors to more than half of American kids.  Vaccination rates climbed, and measles cases dropped precipitously. By 2000, the U.S. had stopped local spread of the virus so well that global health authorities declared it eliminated here.  Having made progress at home, the U.S. government championed the use of vaccines abroad. Dr. Susan Reef, who had trained in the CDC disease-detective program made famous by Kate Winslet’s character in the movie “Contagion,” crisscrossed the globe showing health officials how they could save babies from birth defects and early death by introducing the rubella vaccine.  The cloudy eye of this 3-year-old is from glaucoma caused by congenital rubella syndrome, a constellation of problems resulting from exposure to rubella while in utero. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Dr. Andre J. Lebrun Also known as German measles, rubella is usually mild in kids and adults. When people get infected very early in pregnancy, though, they face up to a 90% chance of giving birth to a baby with congenital rubella syndrome. About a third of those infants die before their first birthday. Most survivors have deafness, blindness, heart defects or intellectual disabilities. Before the vaccine, a U.S. epidemic in the mid-1960s led to 20,000 babies born with the syndrome. Reef and her CDC colleagues helped foreign health authorities set up surveillance systems that identified newborns with congenital rubella syndrome. During a 2011 rubella epidemic in Vietnam, Reef spotted a cluster of tiny bassinets in a Ho Chi Minh City intensive care unit. The babies’ eyes had cataracts, a sign of vision loss. She knew that most would have trouble hearing, if they could hear at all. A collaborator from the WHO told Reef that at least one of the infants had been abandoned by his family.  Doctors had isolated the contagious newborns to prevent the spread of rubella, a sign the country’s surveillance system was working. But the scene of this preventable suffering, Reef said, “broke my heart.”  Vietnam launched a national rubella immunization program a few years later.  When Reef’s work began, less than half the world’s countries had introduced a rubella shot. When she retired in 2022 after a 30-year career at the CDC, all but 19 had.  For half a century, one idea lay at the core of all U.S. immunization programs: Let down your guard and the diseases will return. Dr. Chuck Vitek saw this happen as he walked the worn linoleum floors of Russian infectious disease hospitals in the mid-1990s.  Throughout that decade, a massive epidemic of diphtheria raged across the countries of the former Soviet Union. The CDC repeatedly deployed Vitek to help health authorities contain this ancient contagion, once widely known as the “strangling angel of children.” Tissue destroyed by the diphtheria toxin can build up in the back of a child’s throat, sealing off the swollen airway and suffocating them. Photo By BSIP/UIG via Getty Images Diphtheria’s name is drawn from the Greek word for leather because tissue destroyed by the diphtheria toxin builds up in the back of the throat like a piece of hide, sealing off a swollen airway. Many parents had to watch their children suffocate. For those who escape asphyxiation, the toxin can damage the heart and nerves. Patients who seem better can drop dead weeks later.  At one hospital, Vitek peered into the mouth of a sick Russian teenager and saw the thick greyish-white membrane covering a third of his throat. Doctors had administered antitoxin promptly, so his windpipe wasn’t blocked. But, pale and weak, the boy faced a terrible wait. Had diphtheria ruined his heart?  Vitek had to leave before it was clear whether the child would survive. But one detail from his medical history stood out above all others: The teen had not been vaccinated. “It was sad because it was something that would have easily been prevented with vaccination,” Vitek recalled.  Vitek was another graduate of the CDC’s disease-detective program. A big part of his assignment was to investigate why diphtheria had come back. One obvious problem was access; the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 disrupted vaccine supplies. But that wasn’t the whole answer.  The unvaccinated Russian boy offered a clue to the rest. The Soviets had been big believers in immunization. Diphtheria shots for kids had been free — and mandatory — since the 1950s.  When diphtheria seemed like a problem of the past, though, the Soviet Union eased up. Concerns about fevers and other possible side effects from the shot used back then overshadowed fears of the disease. In the 1980s, Soviet health authorities created alternative immunization schedules with lower-dose diphtheria shots and fewer total injections, and they directed pediatricians to put off vaccination if a child had one of a long list of health issues. “If a kid had a runny nose, a stomachache, almost anything,” Vitek said, doctors would skip the shot that day. “They wouldn’t make an effort to catch them up.” Antivaccine activists tapped into the deep mistrust of government institutions in the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. One 1988 column in a Moscow newspaper suggested that Soviet officials knew the shot could be harmful — even deadly — but kept this secret. (In focus groups held years later, parents vividly recalled how news stories made them afraid of immunizations , Vitek and a colleague found.)  By 1990, only 60% of infants in Soviet Russia had received all three full-strength diphtheria shots before their first birthday.  The disease found a foothold. Before the epidemic was over, more than 157,000 people were infected and 5,000 died , mostly in Russia. Health officials in Russia ended the policies that left their people vulnerable and held mandatory mass vaccination campaigns.  “It was an extra dose across the entire population,” Vitek recalled.  It took years to end the epidemic.  Japan had a similar struggle with rubella.  A rash from rubella, also known as German measles Centers for Disease Control and Prevention When health authorities introduced a rubella shot in the 1970s, they took an approach that weighed who was most at risk, targeting future mothers by giving the shot only to junior high girls. The boys of this era were passed over and remained susceptible as they grew up. Rubella researchers refer to them as “the lost generation.” In 1989, Japan changed course and began vaccinating young boys and girls with a shot that combined protection for rubella, measles and mumps. But doctors quickly discovered that the mumps component — different from the U.S. version — sometimes caused a type of meningitis. Mistrust spread as health officials downplayed the risk at first, then yanked the combined vaccines in favor of standalone shots. Japan in 1994 dropped its strict immunization mandates. Health authorities continued to recommend shots, but vaccination became a matter of personal choice , and a lack of trust shadowed the immunization program for years. One study showed Japan’s confidence in vaccines was among the lowest in the world . Time and again, rubella circulated in the men who were never offered the shots as boys, then spread to pregnant women who hadn’t been fully vaccinated. Babies were born with the type of  devastating birth defects that Reef saw in the ICU in Vietnam. Japan’s epidemic from 2012 to 2014 was so bad that researchers discovered a temporary drop in the country’s fertility rates that coincided with a spike in Google searches for the Japanese word for rubella.  Serious misgivings about vaccination in one part of the world can have far-reaching consequences. Twenty countries that thought their days of paralytic polio were behind them saw the dreaded disease return in the 2000s. The virus was traced to Nigeria, where religious and political leaders in some areas had boycotted polio immunization campaigns amid false rumors that the shots had been tainted to make Muslim girls infertile. Organizers of the boycott feared the vaccine more than the disease.  The governor of one northern Nigerian state told the Associated Press in 2004: “It is a lesser of two evils to sacrifice two, three, four, five, even 10 children [to polio] than allow hundreds or thousands or possibly millions of girl-children likely to be rendered infertile.”  Polio roared back in Nigeria, leaving more than 2,500 children disabled. It spread around the world for years, paralyzing kids as far away as Indonesia. When Kennedy became America’s top health official last year, no other leader at the CDC had more experience preventing death and disability with vaccines than Dr. Melinda Wharton.  It was Wharton who had sent Vitek to Russia to figure out why diphtheria returned . And it was Wharton who started Reef on her quest to vanquish congenital rubella syndrome . Like them, she had trained as a disease detective. In her 39 years at the CDC, Wharton had seen activists try to persuade Americans that the shots they were giving their babies were scarier than the diseases those shots prevented. In 2021, Kennedy had written in a book that measles — a virus the CDC says kills nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who contract it — wasn’t the menace that the government proclaimed. “Measles outbreaks have been fabricated to create fear that in turn forces government officials to ‘do something,’” he wrote. “They then inflict unnecessary and risky vaccines on millions of children for the sole purpose of fattening industry profits.” During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy told senators he isn’t antivaccine. “I am pro-safety,” he said. “I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish .” In his early days as the nation’s top health leader, HHS dismissed thousands of Wharton’s colleagues , ended vaccine promotions during an especially deadly flu season and buried a CDC measles forecast that stressed the need for immunization. A measles rash covers a child’s torso. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Dr. Philip Nader Wharton set five empty cardboard boxes on her filing cabinet in case she needed to pack up quickly.  In recent years she managed the committee of outside experts that recommends which shots Americans should get and when. Few people had ever heard of her obscure corner of the federal health bureaucracy.  But Kennedy knew it well. He understood that Congress had given these advisers the power to determine which shots were free for more than half of American kids and which ones insurers must pay for. Many states used the committee’s recommendations to set vaccine mandates for kids attending school. Kennedy for years complained the panel had been captured by Big Pharma. On June 9, his chief of staff at the CDC removed Wharton from her role managing the committee. Just as that news was sinking in, Wharton’s phone lit up with messages from the committee’s members. Kennedy had announced in a Wall Street Journal column that he was replacing all of them . “A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” he wrote. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kayla Bartkowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images Kennedy stacked the new committee with many vaccine skeptics who quickly delved into his longstanding grievances about America’s immunization system. Webcasts of the meetings became a megaphone for mistrust. Some devolved into shouting matches as doctors from medical societies pushed back against misinformation.  One of Kennedy’s new appointees, Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, suggested that vaccinating a baby was like flying on an airplane that hadn’t been rigorously tested. “I suggest to parents to be very, very suspicious when people tell them that something is safe, especially a vaccine,” he said. In an emailed response to questions from ProPublica, Levi said that vaccines have benefits and risks “often personalized to the individual’s health status, risk factors, and preferences.” Being transparent about those benefits and risks, including being honest about what is known and not known, increases public confidence in vaccination programs, he said.  The chair of the committee, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, told the “Why Should I Trust You?” podcast he wasn’t afraid to reconsider whether the polio shot is needed any longer. In an email to ProPublica, Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist, said that the committee is required to review vaccines every seven years “to optimize effectiveness and to reevaluate possible long term risks.”  Like Kennedy, Milhoan doesn’t think vaccines have been appropriately tested for safety. In the podcast, he said American parents deserve to know the risks so they can decide whether they’re more concerned about the disease or the potential for side effects from the shot.  “What we are doing is returning individual autonomy to the first order, not public health,” he added. Since she retired last year, Wharton has tuned in to the meetings she used to run, but at times they were too painful to watch. The new committee at one point sought advice from a former president of the antivaccination group Kennedy founded, while a CDC compilation of evidence that ran counter to her presentation was quietly removed from the panel’s website. For insight on the childhood schedule, the panel listened to a 90-minute talk by a Kennedy ally, a vaccine-injury attorney who once petitioned the government to withdraw approval of the polio shot for infants and toddlers.  In January, the acting CDC director trimmed the childhood immunization schedule so that it recommended routine protection for 11 diseases rather than 17. Six shots that had been universal would now fall into a category that essentially means “talk to your doctor and decide for yourself,” with guidance for certain shots based on risk. “The idea that it’s increasingly acceptable to put children at risk for these kinds of things is really just terrible,” Wharton said. “To have it be the official position of the federal government, it’s very frightening.” Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, defended the slimmed-down schedule, saying it would “maintain robust protection against diseases that cause serious morbidity or mortality to children while aligning the U.S. with peer nations.”  As for the committee, Nixon said Kennedy’s appointees are “committed to rigorous review and independent thinking.” “Restoring confidence requires advisory bodies that are willing to ask hard questions, not simply reaffirm prior consensus and rubber stamp recommendations,” he said. “Disagreement at public meetings is a healthy scientific debate and the way to overcome groupthink.” The American Academy of Pediatrics, which for decades had collaborated with the committee on the childhood vaccine schedule, boycotted the panel’s meetings and sued to block many of Kennedy’s moves.  On Monday, a federal judge sided with the academy , finding that for an advisory committee dedicated to using vaccines to control preventable diseases, more than half of the new members “appear distinctly unqualified.” While he considers the case, the judge, for now, put on hold Kennedy’s appointments to the panel as well as the CDC’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.  The ruling is a setback for Kennedy, but the Trump administration has foreshadowed other changes that could affect Americans’ access to shots. President Donald Trump, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., addresses reporters during a press conference in the White House. Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images In September, President Donald Trump stepped up to the microphone in the White House’s Roosevelt Room with a major announcement about his administration’s efforts to counter the rise of autism. Flanked by Kennedy and other top health officials, the president urged pregnant women not to take acetaminophen, the pain reliever often sold as Tylenol. This news ricocheted around the globe.  But less attention was given to other bombshells dropped about vaccines that day. The president complained that pediatricians were giving so many shots, they were treating America’s children like horses. “They pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies, it’s a disgrace,” he said. Without explaining how, Trump said his administration was going to get aluminum removed from vaccines. “Who the hell wants that pumped into a body?” he said. Aluminum has been used in shots since the 1930s to boost immune response. It is an essential ingredient in vaccines for nine diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, human papillomavirus (a cause of cervical cancer), one version of the Hib vaccine, and many of the combination shots babies receive. Kennedy has long questioned its safety.  A CDC-sponsored study found an association between aluminum in shots and asthma in young kids. But the researchers, citing limitations in their analysis, wrote that “these findings do not constitute strong evidence for questioning the safety of aluminum in vaccines.” A larger study by Danish government researchers subsequently found aluminum in shots did not increase the risk of autism, asthma, autoimmune diseases or dozens of other conditions. Kennedy criticized the methodology and tried unsuccessfully to get the Danish study retracted.  If the federal government were to ban aluminum in vaccines, companies would have to reformulate them and, possibly, launch costly clinical trials. Nearly all the shots American kids get are made by a handful of pharmaceutical giants. The market is fragile enough that if any were to balk and stop making these vaccines, families could face shortages or lose access altogether. The fate of the measles-mumps-rubella shot, which does not contain aluminum, is also up in the air. At the White House autism press conference, Trump, without offering evidence, said he had heard bad things about that shot, which has been used here since 1971. Researchers around the world repeatedly have found it does not cause autism.  Nevertheless, the president implored parents to insist on separate shots for measles, mumps and rubella — “separate, separate, separate,” he repeated.  But there are no FDA-approved standalone shots for measles, mumps or rubella. Facing a year with the most American measles cases in a generation, the president had suggested that there’s a problem with the only surefire prevention available and told parents to demand shots that don’t exist here.  In an X post, the acting CDC director at that time called on manufacturers to develop them. A measles rash covers the face and shoulders of a young boy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention A White House spokesperson did not answer questions about the president’s plans.  “The Trump administration is committed to a nuanced, nimble, and multi-faceted approach to restore Gold Standard Science as the guiding principle of our health policymaking without compromising access to or coverage of any lifesaving treatment, including vaccines,” Kush Desai wrote in an email. “Until unveiled by the Administration, discussion about potential new policies or their second order effects is pointless speculation.” The federal court ruling that paused January’s revisions to the childhood vaccination schedule doesn’t stop Kennedy from making similar changes in the future, as long as he follows the proper procedures. While moving shots to the talk-to-your-doctor category may seem harmless, it could affect access down the line.  The injury compensation program that Congress created to prevent manufacturers from fleeing the U.S. market in the 1980s only covers immunizations the CDC recommends for “routine administration” to children or pregnant women. That leaves shots in other categories open to legal challenges by vaccine injury lawyers, renewing the specter of big legal verdicts that previously prompted vaccine makers to bolt. Kennedy has long railed against the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, arguing it’s a gift to the pharmaceutical industry that removes any incentive to make safe products. Before he became HHS secretary, Kennedy referred plaintiffs to a law firm suing a vaccine maker in exchange for a cut of its fees if they won, federal financial disclosures show.  Last year, he hired a vaccine injury lawyer to help him overhaul the compensation program and expand who can receive payments. In September, that attorney said he and Kennedy were considering ways to add symptoms of autism to the program’s injury table for quick payouts. So many studies — performed in different parts of the world and involving more than a million people — have found no link between vaccines and autism that this has become scientific consensus . (Scientists have found serious methodological flaws in papers that have claimed such a link.) The compensation program’s vaccine court spent years in the 2000s trying cases that alleged shots caused autism and found they didn’t . ProPublica asked HHS whether Kennedy planned to add symptoms of autism to the program’s injury table, but the agency did not answer. Given how prevalent autism is, a change like this could exhaust the compensation fund. If the program collapses and the legal protections go away, manufacturers may stop selling shots here like they did in the 1980s.  Then, even Americans who still trust vaccines couldn’t get them. A child suffering from Haemophilus influenzae type B, or Hib American Association of Pediatrics Diseases that have been wiped out in the U.S. are still found in other parts of the world.  Polio is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and this month the CDC warned American travelers that the virus has been circulating in 28 additional countries , including Israel and the United Kingdom. In 2022, a young unvaccinated man in New York was paralyzed by the virus . That same year, an outbreak of diphtheria began in Western Europe, its largest rise in cases in 70 years. Health authorities investigating the infection of an unvaccinated German boy in 2024 discovered that the toxic strain of the diphtheria bacteria had spread over two years from newly arrived migrants to homeless Germans, then to the child and his mother, who had no known contact with either group. The 10-year-old was admitted to a hospital in the historic city of Potsdam. Like Ratner encountering his first patient with Hib, the German doctors had never seen diphtheria before. “It was taught as history,” said Dr. Bernhard Kosak, head of pediatric emergency medicine and critical care there. Treated with antitoxin and antibiotics, the child was transferred to the big teaching hospital in Berlin where a ventilator helped him breathe . But the marvels of modern intensive-care medicine couldn’t undo the damage from this ancient toxin. The boy died in January last year.  Diseases can follow the contours of global travel. In just the first few months of last year, the CDC found , people infected with measles arrived in the U.S. from Canada, Vietnam, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Australia, Guinea, the Netherlands, Somalia, Spain and Uganda.  The Trump administration has walked away from long-standing international alliances that helped the U.S. beat back scourges in other countries. The president withdrew the U.S. from the WHO. And Kennedy backed out of the government’s promise to give $1.6 billion to Gavi, the global vaccine aid group the U.S. has funded for decades. He accused the organization of neglecting vaccine safety. “Secretary Kennedy has made clear that American public health dollars going abroad must be spent wisely,” Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, said. “That means reviewing funding commitments and ensuring programs meet safety and effectiveness standards. Protecting Americans at home remains our first obligation.” Reef, the former CDC doctor who had witnessed newborns suffering from congenital rubella syndrome in Vietnam, is devastated by the pullback.  “It makes me very very sad,” she said, then paused for a long time. “Very very sad. I can’t explain to you what it feels like to see all your hard work going by the wayside.” In retirement, she remains part of the group of experts that helps governments decide when to introduce the rubella vaccine and also serves on four WHO committees that determine whether nations have eliminated rubella or measles.  When countries launch rubella vaccination campaigns for the first time, they can’t just target babies or the virus shifts to older groups and can infect those who are pregnant. To avoid this, Gavi for many years supported immunizing all children from 9 months old up to age 15 when countries first introduce the shot, which offers protection not just for rubella but also for measles. But facing a massive hole in its budget, Gavi’s board in December decided in the future to save money by only guaranteeing that vaccine up to age 10 when a country first debuts it. Modeling predicts the change could result in 72,000 additional deaths from measles and congenital rubella syndrome, according to the Gavi board’s records.  A Gavi spokesperson acknowledged that the shift creates a greater risk of congenital rubella but said that the organization had to figure out how to protect as many people as it could with far less money. Countries that want to offer the vaccine to older kids, she noted, can draw from a different pot of Gavi money, but that will leave those places with less funding for other shots. Fallout from the budget cuts goes well beyond rubella. “The bottom line is that, over the next five years, we expect to be able to prevent 600,000 future deaths less than if we were fully funded,” the spokesperson said. Addressing Kennedy’s criticism, the spokesperson added, “Gavi’s utmost concern is the health and safety of children. Our approach to vaccine safety is guided entirely by global scientific consensus.” Cataracts caused by congenital rubella syndrome Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The spread of measles in the U.S. warns of future rubella outbreaks. Since the rubella shot here is given in combination with the vaccine for measles and mumps, parents who turn down measles vaccines leave their kids vulnerable to rubella, too. It could take 20 years before birth defects from rubella become common again. Unvaccinated children have to grow old enough to become pregnant. The long lag time can give a false sense of security.  But, Reef warned, “when it comes back, it will come back with a vengeance. We will see babies being born who are blind, deaf and have heart disease.” The world is ill prepared for a major resurgence in diphtheria. Antitoxin, made from the blood of horses , has to be given immediately. Yet supplies are scarce, and not many companies sell it. Dozens of kids in Pakistan died in 2024 because doctors there couldn’t get it in time.  Vitek, the CDC doctor who fought diphtheria in Russia, helped obtain permission for the CDC to keep an emergency stash of antitoxin for Americans after the only manufacturer with FDA approval stopped making it. The U.S. medical system still relies on an emergency supply controlled by the CDC.  ProPublica asked the CDC and HHS how many diphtheria patients the government’s current supply could treat, but neither agency would say. (“The CDC vigilantly monitors disease trends, maintains emergency stockpiles, and supports outbreak response at home and abroad,” Nixon said.) Vitek retired in July after 33 years with the CDC, but he still worries how diseases that seem vanquished can reappear if people can’t or won’t get shots.  The unvaccinated parts of America could find themselves, like Germany, one unwitting traveler away from an outbreak of a horror from the history books.  “Once it gets reintroduced, your kid could get sick or die, even with modern medicine,” Vitek warned. And diphtheria, he noted, “it’s a terrible way to die.”  Do You Have a Tip for ProPublica? Help Us Do Journalism. Got a story we should hear? Are you down to be a background source on a story about your community, your schools or your workplace? Get in touch. Send Us Your Tip The post How Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Vaccine Agenda Risks a Resurgence of Deadly Childhood Plagues appeared first on ProPublica .

The $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project, under construction between Manhattan and New Jersey, will improve passenger rail service, an important issue for New York City commuters. It would seem to have nothing to do with what’s happening in northern Wisconsin.  But after the White House froze federal grant funding for the project in the fall, citing concerns about diversity and equity measures, lobbyists with an interest in the tunnel donated $2,500 to a political novice running in the Republican primary in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District.  The young candidate, Michael Alfonso, has no sway over the matter. However, his father-in-law does: Sean Duffy is secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The contributions are among dozens to Alfonso’s campaign from lobbyists, business executives and political action committees tied to industries — from rails and highways to shipping and air travel — that Duffy’s department funds and regulates. His department also oversees the Federal Aviation Administration. Duffy held the 7th Congressional District seat for nearly a decade before resigning in 2019. He was succeeded by Tom Tiffany, who is now running for Wisconsin governor, leaving the seat open again. Alfonso, 26, who has worked in construction and podcasting, has been endorsed by  President Donald Trump.  A ProPublica analysis found that many of the Alfonso donors with transportation interests had never given to Duffy or Tiffany. While legal, such donations set up the appearance that helping Alfonso might assist the donors with issues influenced by Duffy. (Politico has reported on some of these contributions.) “The law, as it stands, provides very little constraint,” said Daniel Weiner, director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a law and policy institute based in New York. “There’s a very large gulf between what is legal and what is ethical. Obviously, this raises numerous ethical questions.” This is not the first time a Cabinet secretary’s relative has created thorny ethical issues. During the first Trump administration, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao made headlines for appearing to give preferential treatment to Kentucky officials for millions of dollars in infrastructure grants. Kentucky is the home state of her husband, Mitch McConnell, then Senate majority leader. At the time, Chao’s office denied showing any favoritism, saying that Kentucky’s share was not out of the ordinary. And in 2012, under President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, an Iowa Democrat, fielded questions about the separation between U.S. Department of Agriculture business and the campaign of his wife, Christie, who was running for Congress. Christie Vilsack told ProPublica in an interview that the couple was careful about making sure her husband was not involved in the campaign, other than to support her at some debates and on election night. He “never did any fundraising at all,” she said. An influential member of Trump’s Cabinet, Duffy has been openly assisting his son-in-law’s campaign. The notice for a November “meet and greet” with Alfonso in Wausau, Wisconsin, mentioned that Duffy would be a special guest, as did an invitation for another December fundraiser.  Among the sponsors for the December event was the political action committee for Delta Air Lines. The invitation included a caveat: “Sean Duffy is not soliciting funds in connection with this event.”  Alfonso’s campaign did not respond to requests from ProPublica for an interview or for comment. A spokesperson for Duffy, Nathaniel Sizemore, provided a written statement saying: “The Secretary attends fundraising events in his personal capacity. Regulatory decisions are guided by career safety professionals, the law, and the facts.” Nothing in law bars Duffy from campaigning for his son-in-law, so long as he goes about it on his personal time, does not use government resources and does not promise to take some official action in exchange for a contribution.  Alfonso is using the same fundraising consultant, Kirstin Hopkins, that Duffy employed, Federal Election Commission records show. In addition, Alfonso has received help with ads and mailers from a super PAC, the Northwoods Future PAC, that is funded with $1 million from Duffy’s former campaign committee. Alfonso’s familial advantage has irked some Wisconsin Republicans who don’t want the newcomer to glide into such an important position. Through his own campaign committee, Alfonso had raised a little over $305,000 as of the end of 2025, the latest filing available. By law, contributions for each election are limited to $3,500 from individuals and $5,000 from political action committees. Donors can contribute to more than one election at the same time, such as a primary race and a general. Alfonso’s donors include lobbyist Jeffrey Miller, a finance chair of Trump’s most recent inaugural committee. In December, Miller and his company’s chief operating officer donated separately to Alfonso, for a combined $8,500. No one listing their firm, Miller Strategies, as an employer had donated to either Duffy or Tiffany in the past, according to FEC records.  Lobbyist disclosure reports show that Miller lobbied the Transportation Department in 2025 on behalf of at least nine companies, one New York county and one Native American tribe. The issues included airport signage regulation, aviation permitting for the developer of a supersonic airliner and advancements in GPS technology. Miller reported advocating for Archer Aviation regarding electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft technology, known as eVTOL — the basis for future flying cars. Earlier this month, Duffy announced a first-of-its-kind FAA pilot program to test eVTOL technology in eight demonstration projects across 26 states. Archer was among the companies selected to participate, according to the Transportation Department. In a video accompanying the announcement, Duffy spoke enthusiastically about the technology, envisioning “Ubers in the air” taking people from one airport to the next and beyond. He said, “eVTOLs are going to make the airspace far more interesting and far more fun, and we have to be prepared for that.”  Miller did not return calls or emails seeking comment.  Alfonso graduated in 2022 from the University of Wisconsin with a math degree. He moved to Florida for a time to help produce a popular podcast hosted by Dan Bongino, a Trump supporter who later served a brief stint as deputy director of the FBI. (Bongino is back podcasting again.)  By Alfonso’s account, he and Trump first met in 2022 at Alfonso’s wedding to Duffy’s daughter, Evita. The reception took place at one of Trump’s New Jersey golf courses. Alfonso has said that in an Oval Office meeting after he decided to run for Congress, he pledged loyalty to the president. “I promised him that I would always be America first, I would always fight for his agenda and that nobody would ever outwork me,” Alfonso told Mark Halperin, another podcaster. On social media in November, Alfonso thanked Duffy for coming to his first campaign event in Wausau, the city where the candidate met his future wife while they were in middle school. In a post on X, Alfonso thanked his father-in-law for joining him on the campaign trail in Wisconsin last November. X The following month, the transportation secretary appeared at a campaign fundraiser for Alfonso at a hotel in Green Bay, near the storied Lambeau Field. The donors in attendance included Sharad Tak of Bethesda, Maryland, the CEO of ST LNG, a company seeking a DOT-issued license to construct and operate a deep-water port offshore of Matagorda, Texas, to load liquefied natural gas onto carriers.  Tak gave $500 to the campaign, and his wife, Mahinder, who did not attend the function, gave $7,000. Neither had donated to Duffy or Tiffany.  Tak did not reply to ProPublica’s request for an interview but asked a longtime friend of his, Ann Murphy of Green Bay, who works as a consultant for him, to respond. Tak owns a paper mill in Oconto Falls, north of Green Bay. It is not in the 7th Congressional District. But Murphy said Tak was visiting the state and agreed, at her request, to attend the fundraiser for Alfonso.  She said in an interview that the Texas liquefied natural gas project had no bearing on Tak’s campaign contribution. “Absolutely not.”  It’s typical, she said, for Tak and his wife to support causes, both political and philanthropic, that Murphy and her husband find worthwhile — and vice versa. “We were very excited about Michael,” Murphy said of Alfonso, likening him to Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA who inspired many young people before being killed last year. “And he does have the endorsement of President Trump.” Others donating to Alfonso’s candidacy include political action committees for employees of the military jetmaker Lockheed Martin, which is subject to FAA safety regulations and has lucrative government contracts, and for T-Mobile, which is working on a DOT project to enhance the resilience of critical 5G infrastructure. PACs for unions and trade associations for heavy equipment operators, engineers, aeronautical services and the travel industry have also pitched in.  The PAC for Brightline, a high-speed train service in Florida, also donated, giving $2,500 in December. Brightline trains have struck and killed more than 180 pedestrians or drivers at crossings since 2017, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald and WLRN . Duffy promised at a congressional committee hearing in July to work to “drive down the number of deaths.” In September, he announced t hat his department would distribute $42 million to improve safety along the line. In a statement to the Florida news organizations, Brightline officials blamed the deaths on suicides and the “reckless” behavior of people who put themselves in harm’s way.  Brightline, T-Mobile and Lockheed Martin did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. On its website, Lockheed notes that it complies with all applicable laws and regulations with regard to its political and public policy activities.  Alfonso’s campaign has drawn donations from others in the heavily regulated railroad sector. They include Peter Bartek, founder of FTS Rail, which manufactures battery-powered railroad repair tools and sensors that detect rail breaks caused by extreme heat or cold. He gave $3,644  in November. Duffy appointed Bartek last July to serve on a DOT advisory committee.  Bartek had never given to a candidate in the district before. In an interview, he said he read a news article about Alfonso’s campaign and decided to donate. “I like Secretary Duffy very much,” he said, “and I thought very simply, boy, if he’s anything like his father-in-law, it would be nice to support him as well.” He said in a text that he didn’t know Duffy personally and was not involved in Alfonso’s campaign or fundraising. In New York, construction on the Hudson Tunnel Project to improve commuter rail service came to a screeching halt in early February after the federal government cut off funds . A court intervened, ordering the money released, and work resumed. A bistate commission overseeing the project warned this month that it could face disruptions again in upcoming months if federal disbursements do not continue. In response to outreach from ProPublica, an executive at Venture Government Strategies, whose lobbyists for the tunnel project gave a combined $2,500 to Alfonso, said in an email the company had no comment.  On his campaign website, Alfonso lists a dozen issues “that matter to us” — ranging from education and health care to immigration. He wants to “make farms and families strong,” “give Gen Z a voice” and work against access to abortion.  Transportation issues are not among those priorities, but he still is getting support from General Motors, which regularly lobbies DOT on various issues, including fuel economy, vehicle safety and emissions standards, and other mandates. The giant car manufacturer also gave to Duffy when he was running for the congressional seat, and the transportation secretary has become a booster. (GM did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment.) In mid-December, viewers of social media saw Duffy slide behind the wheel of a sleek, black, limited-edition Corvette, imbued with patriotic insignia to celebrate the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.  “Over 1,000 horsepower,” Duffy said in a promotional video , emphasizing the dynamic features of the $200,000 supercar. “We’re going to take this bad boy on a little test drive to the Army-Navy game.” Off he went.  The video, uploaded to the social media platform X, highlighted a travel app the carmaker made in partnership with the Department of Transportation, while also showcasing Chevrolet’s automotive series dubbed Stars and Steel.  The post received over 130,000 views: valuable advertisement for the storied carmaker, General Motors. A couple of weeks later, GM’s political action committee donated $1,000 to Alfonso. The post Transportation Lobbyists Have Donated Thousands to Sean Duffy’s Son-in-Law as He Runs for Congress appeared first on ProPublica .

In late 2024, the federal government’s cybersecurity evaluators rendered a troubling verdict on one of Microsoft’s biggest cloud computing offerings. The tech giant’s “lack of proper detailed security documentation” left reviewers with a “lack of confidence in assessing the system’s overall security posture,” according to an internal government report reviewed by ProPublica. Or, as one member of the team put it: “The package is a pile of shit.” For years, reviewers said, Microsoft had tried and failed to fully explain how it protects sensitive information in the cloud as it hops from server to server across the digital terrain. Given that and other unknowns, government experts couldn’t vouch for the technology’s security. Such judgments would be damning for any company seeking to sell its wares to the U.S. government, but it should have been particularly devastating for Microsoft. The tech giant’s products had been at the heart of two major cybersecurity attacks against the U.S. in three years. In one, Russian hackers exploited a weakness to steal sensitive data from a number of federal agencies, including the National Nuclear Security Administration. In the other, Chinese hackers infiltrated the email accounts of a Cabinet member and other senior government officials. The federal government could be further exposed if it couldn’t verify the cybersecurity of Microsoft’s Government Community Cloud High, a suite of cloud-based services intended to safeguard some of the nation’s most sensitive information. Yet, in a highly unusual move that still reverberates across Washington, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, authorized the product anyway, bestowing what amounts to the federal government’s cybersecurity seal of approval. FedRAMP’s ruling — which included a kind of “buyer beware” notice to any federal agency considering GCC High — helped Microsoft expand a government business empire worth billions of dollars. “BOOM SHAKA LAKA,” Richard Wakeman, one of the company’s chief security architects, boasted in an online forum, celebrating the milestone with a meme of Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Wakeman did not respond to requests for comment. It was not the type of outcome that federal policymakers envisioned a decade and a half ago when they embraced the cloud revolution and created FedRAMP to help safeguard the government’s cybersecurity. The program’s layers of review, which included an assessment by outside experts, were supposed to ensure that service providers like Microsoft could be entrusted with the government’s secrets. But ProPublica’s investigation — drawn from internal FedRAMP memos, logs, emails, meeting minutes, and interviews with seven former and current government employees and contractors — found breakdowns at every juncture of that process. It also found a remarkable deference to Microsoft, even as the company’s products and practices were central to two of the most damaging cyberattacks ever carried out against the government. This is not security. This is security theater. Tony Sager, former NSA computer scientist FedRAMP first raised questions about GCC High’s security in 2020 and asked Microsoft to provide detailed diagrams explaining its encryption practices. But when the company produced what FedRAMP considered to be only partial information in fits and starts, program officials did not reject Microsoft’s application. Instead, they repeatedly pulled punches and allowed the review to drag out for the better part of five years. And because federal agencies were allowed to deploy the product during the review, GCC High spread across the government as well as the defense industry. By late 2024, FedRAMP reviewers concluded that they had little choice but to authorize the technology — not because their questions had been answered or their review was complete, but largely on the grounds that Microsoft’s product was already being used across Washington. Today, key parts of the federal government, including the Justice and Energy departments, and the defense sector rely on this technology to protect highly sensitive information that, if leaked, “could be expected to have a severe or catastrophic adverse effect” on operations, assets and individuals, the government has said. “This is not a happy story in terms of the security of the U.S.,” said Tony Sager , who spent more than three decades as a computer scientist at the National Security Agency and now is an executive at the nonprofit Center for Internet Security. For years, the FedRAMP process has been equated with actual security, Sager said. ProPublica’s findings, he said, shatter that facade. “This is not security,” he said. “This is security theater.” Despite a “lack of confidence in assessing” the security of Microsoft’s GCC High, FedRAMP authorized the product anyway. Alex Wong/Getty Images ProPublica is exposing the government’s reservations about this popular product for the first time. We are also revealing Microsoft’s yearslong inability to provide the encryption documentation and evidence the federal reviewers sought. The revelations come as the Justice Department ramps up scrutiny of the government’s technology contractors. In December, the department announced the indictment of a former employee of Accenture who allegedly misled federal agencies about the security of the company’s cloud platform and its compliance with FedRAMP’s standards. She has pleaded not guilty. Accenture, which was not charged with wrongdoing, has said that it “proactively brought this matter to the government’s attention” and that it is “dedicated to operating with the highest ethical standards.” Microsoft has also faced questions about its disclosures to the government. As ProPublica reported last year, the company failed to inform the Defense Department about its use of China-based engineers to maintain the government’s cloud systems, despite Pentagon rules stipulating that “No Foreign persons may have” access to its most sensitive data. The department is investigating the practice , which officials say could have compromised national security. Microsoft has defended its program as “tightly monitored and supplemented by layers of security mitigations,” but after ProPublica’s story published last July, the company announced that it would stop using China-based engineers for Defense Department work. In response to written questions for this story and in an interview, Microsoft acknowledged the yearslong confrontation with FedRAMP but also said it provided “comprehensive documentation” throughout the review process and “remediated findings where possible.” “We stand by our products and the comprehensive steps we’ve taken to ensure all FedRAMP-authorized products meet the security and compliance requirements necessary,” a spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the company would “continue to work with FedRAMP to continuously review and evaluate our services for continued compliance.” But these days, ProPublica found, there aren’t many people left at FedRAMP to work with. The program was an early target of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which slashed its staff and budget. Even FedRAMP acknowledges it is operating “with an absolute minimum of support staff” and “limited customer service.” The roughly two dozen employees who remain are “entirely focused on” delivering authorizations at a record pace, FedRAMP’s director has said . Today, its annual budget is just $10 million, its lowest in a decade, even as it has boasted record numbers of new authorizations for cloud products. The consequence of all this, people who have worked for FedRAMP told ProPublica, is that the program now is little more than a rubber stamp for industry. The implications of such a downsizing for federal cybersecurity are far-reaching, especially as the administration encourages agencies to adopt cloud-based artificial intelligence tools , which draw upon reams of sensitive information. The General Services Administration, which houses FedRAMP, defended the program, saying it has undergone “significant reforms to strengthen governance” since GCC High arrived in 2020. “FedRAMP’s role is to assess if cloud services have provided sufficient information and materials to be adequate for agency use, and the program today operates with strengthened oversight and accountability mechanisms to do exactly that,” a GSA spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The agency did not respond to written questions regarding GCC High. A “Cloud First” World About two decades ago, federal officials predicted that the cloud revolution, providing on-demand access to shared computing via the internet, would usher in an era of cheaper, more secure and more efficient information technology.  Moving to the cloud meant shifting away from on-premises servers owned and operated by the government to those in massive data centers maintained by tech companies. Some agency leaders were reluctant to relinquish control, while others couldn’t wait to. In an effort to accelerate the transition, the Obama administration issued its “Cloud First” policy in 2011, requiring all agencies to implement cloud-based tools “whenever a secure, reliable, cost-effective” option existed. To facilitate adoption, the administration created FedRAMP, whose job was to ensure the security of those tools .  FedRAMP’s “do once, use many times” system was intended to streamline and strengthen the government procurement process. Previously, each agency using a cloud service vetted it separately, sometimes applying different interpretations of federal security requirements. Under the new program, agencies would be able to skip redundant security reviews because FedRAMP authorization indicated that the product had already met standardized requirements. Authorized products would be listed on a government website known as the FedRAMP Marketplace. On paper, the program was an exercise in efficiency. But in practice, the small FedRAMP team could not keep up with the flood of demand from tech companies that wanted their products authorized.  The slow approval process frustrated both the tech industry, eager for a share in the billions of federal dollars up for grabs, and government agencies that were under pressure to migrate to the cloud. These dynamics sometimes pitted the cloud industry and agency officials together against FedRAMP. The backlog also prompted many agencies to take an alternative path: performing their own reviews of the products they wanted to adopt, using FedRAMP’s standards.  It was through this “agency path” that GCC High entered the federal bloodstream, with the Justice Department paving the way. Initially, some Justice officials were nervous about the cloud and who might have access to its information, which includes highly sensitive court and law enforcement records, a Justice Department official involved in the decision told ProPublica. The department’s cybersecurity program required it to ensure that only U.S. citizens “access or assist in the development, operation, management, or maintenance” of its IT systems, unless a waiver was granted. Justice’s IT specialists recommended pursuing GCC High, believing it could meet the elevated security needs, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal matters. Pursuant to FedRAMP’s rules, Microsoft had GCC High evaluated by a so-called third-party assessment organization, which is supposed to provide an independent review of whether the product has met federal standards. The Justice Department then performed its own evaluation of GCC High using those standards and ruled the offering acceptable. Melinda Rogers, former chief information officer for the Department of Justice U.S. Department of Justice archives By early 2020, Melinda Rogers, Justice’s deputy chief information officer, made the decision official and soon deployed GCC High across the department. It was a milestone for all involved. Rogers had ushered the Justice Department into the cloud, and Microsoft had gained a significant foothold in the cutthroat market for the federal government’s cloud computing business.  Moreover, Rogers’ decision placed GCC High on the FedRAMP Marketplace, the government’s influential online clearinghouse of all the cloud providers that are under review or already authorized. Its mere mention as “in process” was a boon for Microsoft, amounting to free advertising on a website used by organizations seeking to purchase cloud services bearing what is widely seen as the government’s cybersecurity seal of approval. That April, GCC High landed at FedRAMP’s office for review, the final stop on its bureaucratic journey to full authorization.  Microsoft’s Missing Information In theory, there shouldn’t have been much for FedRAMP’s team to do after the third-party assessor and Justice reviewed GCC High, because all parties were supposed to be following the same requirements. But it was around this time that the Government Accountability Office, which investigates federal programs, discovered breakdowns in the process , finding that agency reviews sometimes were lacking in quality. Despite missing details, FedRAMP went on to authorize many of these packages. Acknowledging these shortcomings, FedRAMP began to take a harder look at new packages, a former reviewer said. This was the environment in which Microsoft’s GCC High application entered the pipeline. The name GCC High was an umbrella covering many services and features within Office 365 that all needed to be reviewed. FedRAMP reviewers quickly noticed key material was missing. The team homed in on what it viewed as a fundamental document called a “data flow diagram,” former members told ProPublica. The illustration is supposed to show how data travels from Point A to Point B — and, more importantly, how it’s protected as it hops from server to server. FedRAMP requires data to be encrypted while in transit to ensure that sensitive materials are protected even if they’re intercepted by hackers. But when the FedRAMP team asked Microsoft to produce the diagrams showing how such encryption would happen for each service in GCC High, the company balked, saying the request was too challenging. So the reviewers suggested starting with just Exchange Online, the popular email platform. “This was our litmus test to say, ‘This isn’t the only thing that’s required, but if you’re not doing this, we are not even close yet,’” said one reviewer who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal matters. Once they reached the appropriate level of detail, they would move from Exchange to other services within GCC High. It was the kind of detail that other major cloud providers such as Amazon and Google routinely provided, members of the FedRAMP team told ProPublica. Yet Microsoft took months to respond. When it did, the former reviewer said, it submitted a white paper that discussed GCC High’s encryption strategy but left out the details of where on the journey data actually becomes encrypted and decrypted — so FedRAMP couldn’t assess that it was being done properly. A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged that the company had “articulated a challenge related to illustrating the volume of information being requested in diagram form” but “found alternate ways to share that information.” Rogers, who was hired by Microsoft in 2025, declined to be interviewed. In response to emailed questions, the company provided a statement saying that she “stands by the rigorous evaluation that contributed to” her authorization of GCC High. A spokesperson said there was “absolutely no connection” between her hiring and the decisions in the GCC High process, and that she and the company complied with “all rules, regulations, and ethical standards.” The Justice Department declined to respond to written questions from ProPublica. A Fight Over “Spaghetti Pies” As 2020 came to a close, a national security crisis hit Washington that underscored the consequences of cyber weakness. Russian state-sponsored hackers had been quietly working their way through federal computer systems for much of the year and vacuuming up sensitive data and emails from U.S. agencies — including the Justice Department .  At the time, most of the blame fell on a Texas-based company called SolarWinds, whose software provided hackers their initial opening and whose name became synonymous with the attack. But, as ProPublica has reported , the Russians leveraged that opening to exploit a long-standing weakness in a Microsoft product — one that the company had refused to fix for years, despite repeated warnings from one of its engineers. Microsoft has defended its decision not to address the flaw, saying that it received “multiple reviews” and that the company weighs a variety of factors when making security decisions. In the aftermath, the Biden administration took steps to bolster the nation’s cybersecurity. Among them, the Justice Department announced a cyber-fraud initiative in 2021 to crack down on companies and individuals that “put U.S. information or systems at risk by knowingly providing deficient cybersecurity products or services, knowingly misrepresenting their cybersecurity practices or protocols, or knowingly violating obligations to monitor and report cybersecurity incidents and breaches.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the department would use the False Claims Act to pursue government contractors “when they fail to follow required cybersecurity standards — because we know that puts all of us at risk.” Former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. After Russian state-sponsored hackers stole sensitive data from U.S. agencies, Monaco said the Department of Justice would hold government contractors accountable for failing to uphold cybersecurity standards. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images But if Microsoft felt any pressure from the SolarWinds attack or from the Justice Department’s announcement, it didn’t manifest in the FedRAMP talks, according to former members of the FedRAMP team. The discourse between FedRAMP and Microsoft fell into a pattern. The parties would meet. Months would go by. Microsoft would return with a response that FedRAMP deemed incomplete or irrelevant. To bolster the chances of getting the information it wanted, the FedRAMP team provided Microsoft with a template, describing the level of detail it expected. But the diagrams Microsoft returned never met those expectations. “We never got past Exchange,” one former reviewer said. “We never got that level of detail. We had no visibility inside.” In an interview with ProPublica, John Bergin, the Microsoft official who became the government’s main contact, acknowledged the prolonged back-and-forth but blamed FedRAMP, equating its requests for diagrams to a “rock fetching exercise.”  “We were maybe incompetent in how we drew drawings because there was no standard to draw them to,” he said. “Did we not do it exactly how they wanted? Absolutely. There was always something missing because there was no standard.” A Microsoft spokesperson said without such a standard, “cloud providers were left to interpret the level of abstraction and representation on their own,” creating “inconsistency and confusion, not an unwillingness to be transparent.”  But even Microsoft’s own engineers had struggled over the years to map the architecture of its products, according to two people involved in building cloud services used by federal customers. At issue, according to people familiar with Microsoft’s technology, was the decades-old code of its legacy software, which the company used in building its cloud services.  One FedRAMP reviewer compared it to a “pile of spaghetti pies.” The data’s path from Point A to Point B, the person said, was like traveling from Washington to New York with detours by bus, ferry and airplane rather than just taking a quick ride on Amtrak. And each one of those detours represents an opportunity for a hijacking if the data isn’t properly encrypted. Other major cloud providers such as Amazon and Google built their systems from the ground up, said Sager, the former NSA computer scientist, who worked with all three companies during his time in government. Microsoft’s system is “not designed for this kind of isolation of ‘secure’ from ‘not secure,’” Sager said. A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged the company faces a unique challenge but maintained that its cloud products meet federal security requirements. “Unlike providers that started later with a narrower product scope, Microsoft operates one of the broadest enterprise and government platforms in the world, supporting continuity for millions of customers while simultaneously modernizing at scale,” the spokesperson said in emailed responses. “That complexity is not ‘spaghetti,’ but it does mean the work of disentangling, isolating, and hardening systems is continuous.” The spokesperson said that since 2023, Microsoft has made “security‑first architectural redesign, legacy risk reduction, and stronger isolation guarantees a top, company‑wide priority.” Assessors Back-Channel Cyber Concerns The FedRAMP team was not the only party with reservations about GCC High. Microsoft’s third-party assessment organizations also expressed concerns. The firms are supposed to be independent but are hired and paid by the company being assessed. Acknowledging the potential for conflicts of interest , FedRAMP has encouraged the assessment firms to confidentially back-channel to its reviewers any negative feedback that they were unwilling to bring directly to their clients or reflect in official reports. In 2020, two third-party assessors hired by Microsoft, Coalfire and Kratos, did just that. They told FedRAMP that they were unable to get the full picture of GCC High, a former FedRAMP reviewer told ProPublica. “Coalfire and Kratos both readily admitted that it was difficult to impossible to get the information required out of Microsoft to properly do a sufficient assessment,” the reviewer told ProPublica. The back channel helped surface cybersecurity issues that otherwise might never have been known to the government, people who have worked with and for FedRAMP told ProPublica. At the same time, they acknowledged its existence undermined the very spirit and intent of having independent assessors. A spokesperson for Coalfire, the firm that initially handled the GCC High assessment, requested written questions from ProPublica, then declined to respond.  A spokesperson for Kratos, which replaced Coalfire as the GCC High assessor, declined an interview request. In an emailed response to written questions, the spokesperson said the company stands by its official assessment and recommendation of GCC High and “absolutely refutes” that it “ever would sign off on a product we were unable to fully vet.” The company “has open and frank conversations” with all customers, including Microsoft, which “submitted all requisite diagrams to meet FedRAMP-defined requirements,” the spokesperson said. Kratos said it “spent extensive time working collaboratively with FedRAMP in their review” and does not consider such discussions to be “backchanneling.” FedRAMP, however, was dissatisfied with Kratos’ ongoing work and believed the firm “should be pushing back” on Microsoft more, the former reviewer said. It placed Kratos on a “corrective action plan,” which could eventually result in loss of accreditation. The company said it did not agree with FedRAMP’s action but provided “additional trainings for some internal assessors” in response to it.  The Microsoft spokesperson told ProPublica the company has “always been responsive to requests” from Kratos and FedRAMP. “We are not aware of any backchanneling, nor do we believe that backchanneling would have been necessary given our transparency and cooperation with auditor requests,” the spokesperson said. In response to questions from ProPublica about the process, the GSA said in an email that FedRAMP’s system “does not create an inherent conflict of interest for professional auditors who meet ethical and contractual performance expectations.” GSA did not respond to questions about back-channeling but said the “correct process” is for a third-party assessor to “state these problems formally in a finding during the security assessment so that the cloud service provider has an opportunity to fix the issue.” FedRAMP Ends Talks FedRAMP is housed under the General Services Administration within the federal government. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images The back-and-forth between the FedRAMP reviewers and Microsoft’s team went on for years with little progress. Then, in the summer of 2023, the program’s interim director, Brian Conrad, got a call from the White House that would alter the course of the review. Chinese state-sponsored hackers had infiltrated GCC, the lower-cost version of Microsoft’s government cloud, and stolen data and emails from the commerce secretary, the U.S. ambassador to China and other high-ranking government officials. In the aftermath, Chris DeRusha, the White House’s chief information security officer, wanted a briefing from FedRAMP, which had authorized GCC. The decision predated Conrad’s tenure, but he told ProPublica that he left the conversation with several takeaways. First, FedRAMP must hold all cloud providers — including Microsoft — to the same standards. Second, he had the backing of the White House in standing firm. Finally, FedRAMP would feel the political heat if any cloud service with a FedRAMP authorization were hacked. DeRusha confirmed Conrad’s account of the phone call but declined to comment further. Within months, Conrad informed Microsoft that FedRAMP was ending the engagement on GCC High. We can’t even quantify the unknowns, which makes us very uncomfortable. FedRAMP reviewer of GCC High “After three years of collaboration with the Microsoft team, we still lack visibility into the security gaps because there are unknowns that Microsoft has failed to address,” Conrad wrote in an October 2023 email. This, he added, was not for FedRAMP’s lack of trying. Staffers had spent 480 hours of review time, had conducted 18 “technical deep dive” sessions and had numerous email exchanges with the company over the years. Yet they still lacked the data flow diagrams, crucial information “since visibility into the encryption status of all data flows and stores is so important,” he wrote. If Microsoft still wanted FedRAMP authorization, Conrad wrote, it would need to start over. A FedRAMP reviewer, explaining the decision to the Justice Department, said the team was “not asking for anything above and beyond what we’ve asked from every other” cloud service provider, according to meeting minutes reviewed by ProPublica. But the request was particularly justified in Microsoft’s case, the reviewer told the Justice officials, because “each time we’ve actually been able to get visibility into a black box, we’ve uncovered an issue.” “We can’t even quantify the unknowns, which makes us very uncomfortable,” the reviewer said, according to the minutes. Microsoft and the Justice Department Push Back Microsoft was furious. Failing to obtain authorization and starting the process over would signal to the market that something was wrong with GCC High. Customers were already confused and concerned about the drawn-out review, which had become a hot topic in an online forum used by government and technology insiders. There, Wakeman, the Microsoft cybersecurity architect, deflected blame, saying the government had been “dragging their feet on it for years now.” Meanwhile, to build support for Microsoft’s case, Bergin, the company’s point person for FedRAMP and a former Army official, reached out to government leaders, including one from the Justice Department. The Justice official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said Bergin complained that the delay was hampering Microsoft’s ability “to get this out into the market full sail.” Bergin then pushed the Justice Department to “throw around our weight” to help secure FedRAMP authorization, the official said. John Bergin in 2019, while serving as deputy assistant secretary of the Army for financial information management. He was later hired by Microsoft and served as the company’s liaison with FedRAMP during the GCC High debate. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service That December, as the parties gathered to hash things out at GSA’s Washington headquarters, Justice did just that. Rogers, who by then had been promoted to the department’s chief information officer, sat beside Bergin — on the opposite side of the table from Conrad, the FedRAMP director. Rogers and her Justice colleagues had a stake in the outcome. Since authorizing and deploying GCC High, she had received accolades for her work modernizing the department’s IT and cybersecurity. But without FedRAMP’s stamp of approval, she would be the government official left holding the bag if GCC High were involved in a serious hack. At the same time, the Justice Department couldn’t easily back out of using GCC High because once a technology is widely deployed, pulling the plug can be costly and technically challenging . And from its perspective, the cloud was an improvement over the old government-run data centers. Shortly after the meeting kicked off, Bergin interrupted a FedRAMP reviewer who had been presenting PowerPoint slides. He said the Justice Department and third-party assessor had already reviewed GCC High, according to meeting minutes. FedRAMP “should essentially just accept” their findings, he said. Then, in a shock to the FedRAMP team, Rogers backed him up and went on to criticize FedRAMP’s work, according to two attendees. In its statement, Microsoft said Rogers maintains that FedRAMP’s approach “was misguided and improperly dismissed the extensive evaluations performed by DOJ personnel.” Bergin did not dispute the account, telling ProPublica that he had been trying to argue that it is the purview of third-party assessors such as Kratos — not FedRAMP — to evaluate the security of cloud products. And because FedRAMP must approve the third-party assessment firms , the program should have taken its issues up with Kratos. “When you are the regulatory agency who determines who the auditors are and you refuse to accept your auditors’ answers, that’s not a ‘me’ problem,” Bergin told ProPublica. The GSA did not respond to questions about the meeting. The Justice Department declined to comment. Pressure Mounts on FedRAMP If there was any doubt about the role of FedRAMP, the White House issued a memorandum in the summer of 2024 that outlined its views. FedRAMP, it said, “must be capable of conducting rigorous reviews” and requiring cloud providers to “rapidly mitigate weaknesses in their security architecture.” The office should “consistently assess and validate cloud providers’ complex architectures and encryption schemes.” But by that point, GCC High had spread to other federal agencies, with the Justice Department’s authorization serving as a signal that the technology met federal standards. It also spread to the defense sector, since the Pentagon required that cloud products used by its contractors meet FedRAMP standards. While it did not have FedRAMP authorization, Microsoft marketed GCC High as meeting the requirements, selling it to companies such as Boeing that research, develop and maintain military weapons systems. But with the FedRAMP authorization up in the air, some contractors began to worry that by using GCC High, they were out of compliance. That could threaten their contracts, which, in turn, could impact Defense Department operations. Pentagon officials called FedRAMP to inquire about the authorization stalemate. The Defense Department acknowledged but did not respond to written questions from ProPublica. Rogers also kept pressing FedRAMP to “get this thing over the line,” former employees of the GSA and FedRAMP said. It was the “opinion of the staff and the contractors that she simply was not willing to put heat to Microsoft on this” and that the Justice Department “was too sympathetic to Microsoft’s claims,”  Eric Mill, then GSA’s executive director for cloud strategy , told ProPublica. Authorization Despite a “Damning” Assessment  In the summer of 2024, FedRAMP hired a new permanent director, government technology insider Pete Waterman . Within about a month of taking the job, he restarted the office’s review of GCC High with a new team, which put aside the debate over data flow diagrams and instead attempted to examine evidence from Microsoft. But these reviewers soon arrived at the same conclusion, with the team’s leader complaining about “getting stiff-armed” by Microsoft. “He came back and said, ‘Yeah, this thing sucks,’” Mill recalled. Pete Waterman, FedRAMP director hired in 2024 FedRAMP While the team was able to work through only two of the many services included in GCC High, Exchange Online and Teams, that was enough for it to identify “issues that are fundamental” to risk management, including “timely remediation of vulnerabilities and vulnerability scanning,” according to a summary of the team’s findings reviewed by ProPublica. Those issues, as well as a lack of “proper detailed security documentation” from Microsoft, limit “visibility and understanding of the system” and “impair the ability to make informed risk decisions.” The team concluded, “There is a lack of confidence in assessing the system’s overall security posture.”  A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement that the company “never received this feedback in any of its communications with FedRAMP.” When ProPublica read the findings to Bergin, the Microsoft liaison, he said he was surprised. “That’s pretty damning,” Bergin said, adding that it sounded like language that “would’ve generally been associated with a finding of ‘not worthy.’ If an assessor wrote that, I would be nervous.” Despite the findings, to the FedRAMP team, turning Microsoft down didn’t seem like an option. “Not issuing an authorization would impact multiple agencies that are already using GCC-H,” the summary document said. The team determined that it was a “better value” to issue an authorization with conditions for continued government oversight. While authorizations with oversight conditions weren’t unusual, arriving at one under these circumstances was. GCC High reviewers saw problems everywhere, both in what they were able to evaluate and what they weren’t. To them, most of the package remained a vast wilderness of untold risk. Nevertheless, FedRAMP and Microsoft reached an agreement, and the day after Christmas 2024, GCC High received its FedRAMP authorization. FedRAMP appended a cover report to the package laying out its deficiencies and noting it carried unknown risks, according to people familiar with the report. It emphasized that agencies should carefully review the package and engage directly with Microsoft on any questions. “Unknown Unknowns” Persist Microsoft told ProPublica that it has met the conditions of the agreement and has “stayed within the performance metrics required by FedRAMP” to ensure that “risks are identified, tracked, remediated, and transparently communicated.” But under the Trump administration, there aren’t many people left at FedRAMP to check. While the Biden-era guidance said FedRAMP “must be an expert program that can analyze and validate the security claims” of cloud providers, the GSA told ProPublica that the program’s role is “not to determine if a cloud service is secure enough.” Rather, it is “to ensure agencies have sufficient information to make these risk decisions.” The problem is that agencies often lack the staff and resources to do thorough reviews, which means the whole system is leaning on the claims of the cloud companies and the assessments of the third-party firms they pay to evaluate them. Under the current vision, critics say, FedRAMP has lost the plot. “FedRAMP’s job is to watch the American people’s back when it comes to sharing their data with cloud companies,” said Mill, the former GSA official, who also co-authored the 2024 White House memo. “When there’s a security issue, the public doesn’t expect FedRAMP to say they’re just a paper-pusher.” When there’s a security issue, the public doesn’t expect FedRAMP to say they’re just a paper-pusher. Eric Mill, former GSA executive director for cloud strategy Meanwhile, at the Justice Department, officials are finding out what FedRAMP meant by the “unknown unknowns” in GCC High. Last year, for example, they discovered that Microsoft relied on China-based engineers to service their sensitive cloud systems despite the department’s prohibition against non-U.S. citizens assisting with IT maintenance. Officials learned about this arrangement — which was also used in GCC High — not from FedRAMP or from Microsoft but from a ProPublica investigation into the practice , according to the Justice employee who spoke with us. A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged that the written security plan for GCC High that the company submitted to the Justice Department did not mention foreign engineers, though he said Microsoft did communicate that information to Justice officials before 2020. Nevertheless, Microsoft has since ended its use of China-based engineers in government systems. Former and current government officials worry about what other risks may be lurking in GCC High and beyond. The GSA told ProPublica that, in general, “if there is credible evidence that a cloud service provider has made materially false representations, that matter is then appropriately referred to investigative authorities.” Ironically, the ultimate arbiter of whether cloud providers or their third-party assessors are living up to their claims is the Justice Department itself. The recent indictment of the former Accenture employee suggests it is willing to use this power. In a court document, the Justice Department alleges that the ex-employee made “false and misleading representations” about the cloud platform’s security to help the company “obtain and maintain lucrative federal contracts.” She is also accused of trying to “influence and obstruct” Accenture’s third-party assessors by hiding the product’s deficiencies and telling others to conceal the “true state of the system” during demonstrations, the department said. She has pleaded not guilty. There is no public indication that such a case has been brought against Microsoft or anyone involved in the GCC High authorization. The Justice Department declined to comment. Monaco, the deputy attorney general who launched the department’s initiative to pursue cybersecurity fraud cases, did not respond to requests for comment. She left her government position in January 2025. Microsoft hired her to become its president of global affairs. A company spokesperson said Monaco’s hiring complied with “all rules, regulations, and ethical standards” and that she “does not work on any federal government contracts or have oversight over or involvement with any of our dealings with the federal government.” The post Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft’s Cloud Was “a Pile of Shit.” They Approved It Anyway. appeared first on ProPublica .

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