Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that the Pentagon would be barring Chinese nationals from working on Department of Defense coding projects, specifically cloud systems, after discovering a program was allowing them to do so.
An “Obama-Biden era legacy program” called “digital escorts” had previously allowed Chinese coders to work in roles crafted by Microsoft under the supervision of remote U.S. contractors, according to a video posted to the social media site X by Hegseth.
He said this ultimately “exposed the department to unacceptable risks.”
“I mean, if you’re thinking America first and common sense, this doesn’t pass either of those tests,” Hegseth added. “So I initiated an immediate review of this vulnerability, and I want to report our initial findings.”
“The use of Chinese nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments, it’s over,” he continued.
Hegseth said a formal letter was issued to Microsoft and that the DOD would be requiring a third-party audit of the “digital escort” program, free of charge to American taxpayers.
“Additionally, all Department of Defense software vendors will identify and terminate any Chinese involvement in DOD systems,” Hegseth explained.
“It blows my mind that I’m even saying these things, it’s such common sense, that we ever allowed it to happen. That’s why we’re attacking it so hard,” he said. “We expect vendors doing business with the Department of Defense to put U.S. national security ahead of profit maximization.”
Hegseth added that there will be a full-scale investigation into the program, as well as the coders themselves, to uncover any nefarious activity.
Do you agree with Hegseth’s decision?
The use of Chinese Nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments is over. pic.twitter.com/jZdcHwKho2
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) August 27, 2025
“Microsoft has terminated the use of any China-based engineering teams for DOD cloud systems, and we will continue to collaborate with the U.S. Government to ensure we are meeting their expectations,” a company spokesperson told The Hill last week.
“We remain committed to providing the most secure services possible to the US government, including working with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols as needed,” they remarked.
Pentagon officials claimed they did not know Microsoft had created a “digital escort” program.
This is a rational move by Hegseth. But more importantly, how was this even allowed to happen in the first place?
The Chinese have been making power moves against the United States for decades. Allowing them to operate anywhere near our defense systems is insane.
The country has purchased American farmland, spied on us, stolen intellectual property, and manipulated trade, all while flooding U.S. markets with fentanyl. And these are just a few of the things they’ve been caught doing.
Hegseth’s plan is a good first step, but if his investigation uncovers any wrongdoing, people need to be prosecuted.
If there is no true accountability, things like this will continue to happen. China will then know it’s open season on the U.S. as they continue marching forward toward their goal of world domination.
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