Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said the U.S. government halted cyber operations against Russia for one day in February as President Trump was trying to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, confirming CBS News reporting at the time and undercutting statements of denial from the Defense Department.
"I actually dug into this whole matter. I just want to address it: It was a one-day pause, which is typical for negotiations," said Bacon, chair of the House Armed Services cyber subcommittee, during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Friday. "That's just about as much as I can say. It was a one-day pause."
In March, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had issued a directive to U.S. Cyber Command to pause cyber operations against Russia, including those that were the most provocative. At the time, the duration of the pause was unknown.
In response to reports about the pause, the Pentagon's rapid response team posted on March 4 on X that Hegseth "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."
Two sources familiar with Hegseth's order said the pause directive lacked specificity. It's not clear how the order about planning was interpreted. Multiple officials also told CBS News in March that strategizing for future operations was never paused and that U.S. cyber policy on Russia "is very much intact" and remains at the same level, one of the officials said.
Bacon's remarks are the first on-the-record acknowledgment of the directive's existence, which was first reported in February by The Record, a cybersecurity news publication.
In addition to the Pentagon's statement on X, the Trump administration stonewalled inquiries on the matter and continued to deny any pause was ordered.
Posted by John3262005