Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly halted U.S. Cyber Command's offensive against Russia, according to the Associated Press Monday. The media ran with the news and critics slammed the decision before the Pentagon formally denied that this was happening.
On Monday, news outlets said that an official in President Donald Trump's administration ordered cyber operations against Russia to cease. The source requested to remain anonymous while supposedly spilling secrets about security operations against an adversary of the U.S.
The AP claimed Hegseth's move "comes as many national security and cybersecurity experts have urged greater investments in cyber defense and offense, particularly as China and Russia have sought to interfere with the nation’s economy, elections and security." It cited one expert's warning about Russian interference in elections through cyberattacks.
"Instead of confronting this threat, the Trump administration has actively taken steps to make it easier for the Kremlin to interfere in our electoral processes," said Liana Keesing, campaigns manager for technology reform at the nonprofit Issue One. This was one of several criticisms launched at Trump and Hegseth based on the incorrect reporting.
After the reports spreading across the establishment media about Hegseth's decision to ax this critical security measure, there was no shortage of naysayers. Several lawmakers jumped on the news, including Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL).
"I don’t know why he’s doing that. But the Russians are attacking us every single day," Gimenez said during an interview with Fox Business.
"The Chinese are attacking us every single day. I don’t think you signal to the Russians that ‘Hey, we’re gonna unilaterally withdraw from this space,'" Gimenez went on.
"If they can keep attacking us — and they do every single day — they should be fearful of our capacity to inflict damage on them. So I really don’t understand where that’s coming from," the Florida Republican added.
The reports were definitely was red meat for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who said Sunday that Hegseth's alleged decision was a "critical strategic mistake." As it would turn out, this handwringing and hysteria were all for naught.
The Pentagon did not respond to the reports directly at first except to reiterate Hegseth's mission. "There is no greater priority to Secretary Hegseth than the safety of the Warfighter in all operations to include the cyber domain," an official told The Hill Monday.
However, the Department of Defense Rapid Response team put out an official rebuttal Tuesday. "TO BE CLEAR: @SecDef has neither canceled nor delayed any cyber operations directed against malicious Russian targets, and there has been no stand-down order whatsoever from that priority," the account posted to X, formerly Twitter.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency took the denial a step further. "CISA’s mission is to defend against all cyber threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure, including from Russia. There has been no change in our posture. Any reporting to the contrary is fake and undermines our national security," its post to X stated.
CISA’s mission is to defend against all cyber threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure, including from Russia. There has been no change in our posture. Any reporting to the contrary is fake and undermines our national security.
— Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (@CISAgov) March 3, 2025
The Trump administration is transparent in its mission to protect the U.S. on all fronts. The reporting about this issue created a panic where none was due, but they couldn't pass up the opportunity to blame Trump for something.
