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It’s a national betrayal: Microsoft, actively exploiting loopholes in federal guidance, has effectively handed Xi Jinping the keys to sensitive US defense systems — by using cheap Chinese labor to maintain them.
In July, for example, ProPublica reported that Microsoft has long employed engineers based in Communist China to maintain and support cloud systems used by the US Department of Defense.
Microsoft’s role as a trusted contractor for our federal government means this is not a routine cyber vulnerability, but a direct threat to our national security.
When China gains insight into Department of Defense systems — whether through direct system access, negligent cybersecurity practices or recklessly lax contracting policies — it isn’t just a hypothetical risk.
It gives the Chinese Communist Party the ability to map and disrupt US military operations, logistics networks, and critical infrastructure.
It allows Beijing to build comprehensive surveillance profiles on American servicemembers, government employees and private citizens, and to undermine our technological advantage by stealing proprietary information, research and defense innovations.
In short, it’s putting American lives at risk.
This is not a stand-alone incident, but part of an alarming pattern in which Microsoft has consistently ignored or dismissed security risks, allowing Chinese and Russian hackers to exploit its software.
The pattern is clear, and the implications are devastating: These breaches have compromised sensitive government operations, exposed personal data and jeopardized mission-critical systems.
Worse yet, this is espionage facilitated not just by foreign adversaries’ aggression, but by the greed and negligence of an American corporation.
Time and again, Microsoft has knowingly prioritized its profit margins over the safety of our warfighters, the confidentiality of our intelligence operations and the integrity of America’s military readiness.
At the same time, other cloud providers have shown that it is fully possible to build and maintain secure systems — using US citizens’ labor to reduce risk.
The alleged cost savings of outsourcing labor to America’s adversaries is a hollow justification when the price is the safety and security of our military and intelligence community.
We refuse to stand by while private companies treat US national security as an afterthought.
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved to halt Microsoft’s use of China-based coders working on the department’s cloud systems, and ordered a broad audit to reveal security holes and remove any vulnerabilities.
We applaud these efforts — but more can be done.
As senior members of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, we are taking immediate action.
We recently introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in both chambers to prohibit non-US citizens from maintaining, administering, operating, accessing, using or receiving information about any Defense Department cloud-computing system.
This prohibition will be ironclad to ensure that non-citizens are completely prevented from performing these functions — even under the supervision of US citizens.
We are also using every available lever to hold private contractors accountable.
We are calling on the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security to immediately close the loopholes that companies such as Microsoft have exploited, and we’re asking the Pentagon to issue new guidance to ensure that only trusted US citizens can touch critical systems that support America’s warfighters and intelligence professionals.
It’s long past time for both Washington and Silicon Valley to understand that Communist China is not a competitor — it is an adversary.
The naïve idea that we can cooperate with the CCP while handing them backdoor access to our defense systems is both outdated and incredibly dangerous.
Microsoft and others must wake up to this reality — and correct their dangerous errors that have jeopardized the safety and security of the American people.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.