vox--2020-12-19--The Fed’s surprise role in stimulus talks, explained

Just as it seemed Congress might finally reach a deal on a new stimulus package , there was a new and unexpected wrinkle : Some Republicans have suddenly discovered they ’ re really worried about a handful of emergency lending programs from the Federal Reserve that most Americans have probably never even heard of .
And they have told Democrats that unless these programs are wound down , there ’ ll be no deal .
The hitch comes after months of back-and-forth , and amid great time pressure .
Republicans and Democrats this week have been inching toward a $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on , and they made plans to attach the deal to government spending legislation that must be passed by Sunday night to avoid a government shutdown .
Both sides made some concessions in the bill — Democrats let go of aid for state and local governments , and Republicans dropped their ask for liability shields for corporations ( which would ensure companies couldn ’ t be sued for coronavirus-related issues ) .
But while there were still some issues to be ironed out — what to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for example — it seemed like there might finally be a breakthrough .
And yet .
Sen. Pat Toomey ( R-PA ) is leading a push by Republicans to try to rein in some of the Fed ’ s capabilities to intervene in the economy through lending programs aimed at small businesses and state and local governments .
Specifically , Toomey says he wants to wind down emergency lending programs that were created by the CARES Act back in March ; and , on top of that , include provisions in this new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being able to restart those programs — or create similar ones .
Toomey ’ s argument is that the Fed , which has taken extraordinary actions to try to boost the economy during the pandemic , risks becoming a lender of “ first resort ” instead of “ last resort , ” as it is meant to be , if its powers are extended .
Democrats , on the other hand , are crying foul and argue that this has nothing to do with when businesses and governments turn to the Fed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort from Republicans to limit the economic tools available to President-elect Joe Biden before he even takes office .
“ After weeks of refusing to acknowledge Biden ’ s victory , some Republicans have now decided that sabotaging his presidency is more important than helping our economy recover , ” Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-MA ) said in a statement on Friday .
“ Proposals to sabotage President Biden and our nation ’ s economy are reckless , they ’ re wrong , and they have no place in this legislation.
” And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ language on new Fed limits is too broad in the final legislation , this would severely weaken the Fed ’ s ability to do emergency lending in times of economic stress .
Toomey insists that the language is targeted and that concerns about its broader impact — both with respect to future crises and Biden ’ s presidency — are overblown .
The situation is a bit of an odd one .
Republicans have been dead set against support for state and local governments throughout the pandemic , and this appears , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure the Biden administration doesn ’ t find a workaround to get them money through the Fed .
At the same time , the CARES Act programs in question haven ’ t worked very well so far — localities weren ’ t really picking up what the Fed was putting down .
Democrats say that the programs could be improved to work better under a Biden administration and therefore be used by more potential borrowers : Essentially that they may not be a panacea , but they ’ re not not worth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm , Democrats may be overly optimistic about how effective the programs might be in the future .
“ Those programs had the potential to at least work better in a Biden administration than Trump , ” Sahm told me , “ but they were never going to do , without more Congressional authority , what Democrats wanted.
” The Fed is supposed to be there when things are really bad In the midst of the Great Depression in 1932 , Congress authorized the Federal Reserve to make direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that in big moments of economic crisis , you want the central bank to be there to make sure markets don ’ t go too haywire .
The Fed makes those loans under section 13 ( 3 ) of the Federal Reserve Act .
In the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis , Congress put some restrictions around the Fed ’ s emergency lending powers in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 , which , among other things , required the central bank to go through Treasury to make loans .
So when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the CARES Act , directed $ 454 billion toward the Treasury Department to backstop emergency lending programs , including one aimed at mid-sized businesses and another aimed at municipalities .
A lot of that money wasn ’ t used , and in November , Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked the Fed to return it at the end of the year .
Fed Chair Jerome Powell agreed to return the money , albeit begrudgingly .
As Politico ’ s Victoria Guida laid out on Twitter , Toomey , a longtime skeptic of the Fed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sure the CARES Act-related lending programs are permanently ended , because he and other Republicans worry Democrats will give “ overly generous loans ” to businesses , cities , and states .
Republicans want to make sure the programs are ended now to block incoming Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ( assuming she ’ s confirmed ) from using other funds to restart the programs .
The rub here is exactly what the language Toomey is describing would do .
If it blocks new emergency lending programs for small businesses and municipalities , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential loan recipients , but would just leave them in a fairly similar position to where they are now .
The terms of the loans haven ’ t been generous enough that many states and businesses were willing to try to take them on , though Democrats argue that under Biden that could be fixed .
Still , the larger concern is that it might hamstring the Fed ’ s ability to exercise its broad emergency powers and do real , lasting damage to the central bank and its role in fighting economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issued a statement over the weekend warning about the potential implications of the GOP ’ s proposal .
He stressed that it is “ vital ” that the Fed be able to “ respond promptly to damaging disruptions in credit markets ” and that such ability not be curtailed .
“ The relief act should ensure , at least , that the Federal Reserve ’ s emergency lending authorities , as they stood before the CARES Act , remain fully intact and available to respond to future crises.
” The concern is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sweeping , the Fed might have to ask Congress every time it wants to act on emergency lending during times of crisis .
A spokesperson for Toomey said in an email that the senator doesn ’ t want to change how the Fed operates generally — but that what he is seeking is to ensure that lending facilities set up under the CARES Act are wound down at the end of 2020 , and that no copycat facilities can be created .
The spokesperson said that a speech the Pennsylvania Republican delivered on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear that the intent of this language is narrow and is not a sweeping rewrite of section 13 ( 3 ) , as some have suggested.
” As Jordan Weissmann at Slate points out , however , Republicans want to block the Fed from restarting lending programs that are “ similar ” to the ones from the CARES Act .
What exactly “ similar ” means is where the problem is .
“ If your language is very squishy , that can either mean you have a very expansive interpretation of it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of it , ” Sahm said .
And if the definition of “ similiar ” is too expansive , that could dangerously kneecap the Fed .
“ These emergency facilities , that power to do emergency lending , that is more important than monetary policy , than bank regulations .
This is the thing that the Fed does , it ’ s the thing we absolutely have to have , ” she said .
“ These are core powers of the Fed , and so if you ’ re taking this away , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” “ The risk is that it greatly diminishes the ability of the Fed to exercise its emergency powers and support the economy in the next crisis , ” Roberto Perli a partner at Cornerstone Macro , told Bloomberg .
“ If I were the Fed , I would strenuously oppose this.
” This is a bit of a hostage situation using the Fed The American people need help , and they need help now .
Millions are at risk of eviction in January , millions are out of work , and millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to change this , and it needs to do it .
It ’ s not clear what the really good-faith argument is for why curbing the Fed ’ s emergency lending programs mid-pandemic is worth mass homelessness or stopping people from accessing basic necessities .
But on its face , this is an effort by Republicans to limit what Biden can do on the economy when he takes office .
Especially in the event where Congress won ’ t take action — which it ’ s failed to do , basically , since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have all the tools in the toolbox available .
And it ’ s reasonable to assume congressional inaction will continue into the Biden administration , making the Fed an even important part of recovery .
It is true that a lot of states and businesses weren ’ t falling over themselves to get loans from the Fed , but there ’ s an argument to be made that that ’ s not really the point : Just the knowledge that the Fed is there as a last-resort lender is meaningful in shoring up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ markets moving .
The Fed just saying it would buy corporate bonds kept the corporate bond market moving in the spring .
The fear that the Fed would help Biden get money to state and local governments is weird .
Many in the GOP seem to believe that budget shortfalls are only a blue state problem and therefore have little desire to do anything to help , or , in this case , seem hell bent on blocking any potential aid .
States run by Democrats are absolutely not the only ones facing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the point of lawmakers is to care about all Americans , not just the ones who align with them politically .
“ It is clear that Republicans in Congress and the administration do not want to give money to state and local governments , ” Sahm said .
Why Republicans would be willing to hurt their own states in order to also hurt Democratic ones is far less clear .
The argument that the Fed should need to rely more on Congress to get the go-ahead on emergency lending programs is tough to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
It was good back in March that Treasury and the Fed could quickly work together to really turn on emergency facilities and enact other market-stabilizing measures .
Imagine them having to go through Congress , which is right now getting by on a two-day bill to fund the government , because it couldn ’ t meet a deadline that comes at the same time every year .
And if Republicans really do want to reform 13 ( 3 ) powers , like lawmakers did for Dodd-Frank , doing so hastily seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 3 ) lending law like that on the fly seems pretty disturbing , ” Bharat Ramamurti , a member of the Congressional Oversight Commission that oversees the CARES Act funds , told Slate .
He pointed out on Twitter that the GOP ’ s current position seems like a radical evolution of their earlier stance : In stimulus negotiations in the fall , Republicans were trying to end the current the CARES Act ’ s current lending programs , not permanently strip the Fed of those powers .
Of course , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here .
Maybe this is another GOP-led effort to tank stimulus .
Maybe Republicans just can not stand the idea of states getting help .
Maybe they really want to tie Biden ’ s hands .
Or maybe Toomey really thinks this is his one shot at getting reforms at the Fed and he ’ s taking it .
But time is running out — a deal ( or an extension ) has to be passed before midnight Sunday to avoid a government shutdown — and a haphazard fix to supposed problem that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t even on the radar is a roadblock the American people don ’ t need .

Just as it seemed Congress might finally reach a deal on a new stimulus package, there was a new and unexpected wrinkle: Some Republicans suddenly discovered they were really worried about a handful of emergency lending programs from the Federal Reserve that most Americans have probably never even heard of.
The issue initially appeared as if it might derail talks, but senators were able to reach an agreement Saturday night amid concerns the Fed scuffle could sideline a relief package altogether.
Republicans and Democrats this week have been inching toward a $900 billion agreement to help boost the economy as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, and they made plans to attach the deal to government spending legislation that must be passed by Sunday night to avoid a government shutdown.
Both sides made some concessions in the bill — Democrats let go of aid for state and local governments, and Republicans dropped their ask for liability shields for corporations (which would ensure companies couldn’t be sued for coronavirus-related issues). But then, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) led a push by Republicans to try to rein in some of the Fed’s capabilities to intervene in the economy, through lending programs aimed at small businesses and state and local governments.
Specifically, Toomey said he wanted to wind down emergency lending programs that were created by the CARES Act back in March; and, on top of that, include provisions in this new legislation that would stop the Fed from being able to restart those programs — or create similar ones.
Toomey’s argument is that the Fed, which has taken extraordinary actions to try to boost the economy during the pandemic, risks becoming a lender of “first resort” instead of “last resort,” as it is meant to be, if its powers are extended.
Democrats, on the other hand, cried foul and argued that this has nothing to do with when businesses and governments turn to the Fed, and that the effort actually represents an effort from Republicans to limit the economic tools available to President-elect Joe Biden before he even takes office.
“After weeks of refusing to acknowledge Biden’s victory, some Republicans have now decided that sabotaging his presidency is more important than helping our economy recover,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said in a statement on Friday. “Proposals to sabotage President Biden and our nation’s economy are reckless, they’re wrong, and they have no place in this legislation.”
On Saturday evening, Democrats and Republicans struck a tentative deal on the Fed lending programs. As part of the agreement, the CARES Act lending programs will be wound down at the end of the year, the funds for them will be rescinded, and they won’t be restarted or duplicated without congressional approval. In a statement, Toomey said this would “preserve Fed independence and prevent Democrats from hijacking these programs for political and social policy purposes.”
Democrats had expressed concern that if the language on new Fed limits was too broad in the final legislation, this would severely weaken the Fed’s ability to do emergency lending in times of economic stress. Toomey insisted that the language is targeted and that concerns about its broader impact — both with respect to future crises and Biden’s presidency — are overblown. The tentative agreement suggests both sides now agree the language is focused enough to prevent broad overhauls to the Fed’s powers.
The situation has been a bit of an odd one. Republicans have been dead set against support for state and local governments throughout the pandemic, and this appears, in part, to be a way to make sure the Biden administration doesn’t find a workaround to get them money through the Fed.
At the same time, the CARES Act programs in question haven’t worked very well so far — localities weren’t really picking up what the Fed was putting down. Democrats say that the programs could be improved to work better under a Biden administration and therefore be used by more potential borrowers: Essentially, that they may not be a panacea, but they’re not not worth trying.
Still, according to former Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm, Democrats may be overly optimistic about how effective the programs might be in the future.
“Those programs had the potential to at least work better in a Biden administration than Trump,” Sahm told me, “but they were never going to do, without more congressional authority, what Democrats wanted.”
The Fed is supposed to be there when things are really bad
In the midst of the Great Depression in 1932, Congress authorized the Federal Reserve to make direct loans in emergencies. That basically means that in big moments of economic crisis, you want the central bank to be there to make sure markets don’t go too haywire.
The Fed makes those loans under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. In the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Congress put some restrictions around the Fed’s emergency lending powers in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which, among other things, required the central bank to go through Treasury to make loans.
So when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Congress, through the CARES Act, directed $454 billion toward the Treasury Department to backstop emergency lending programs, including one aimed at mid-sized businesses and another aimed at municipalities.
A lot of that money wasn’t used, and in November, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked the Fed to return it at the end of the year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell agreed to return the money, albeit begrudgingly.
As Politico’s Victoria Guida laid out on Twitter, Toomey, a longtime skeptic of the Fed’s power, wants to make sure the CARES Act-related lending programs are permanently ended, because he and other Republicans worry Democrats will give “overly generous loans” to businesses, cities, and states. Republicans want to make sure the programs are ended now to block incoming Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (assuming she’s confirmed) from using other funds to restart the programs.
The rub here has been, in part, exactly what the language Toomey is describing would do. If it blocks new emergency lending programs for small businesses and municipalities, that’s bad for those potential loan recipients, but would just leave them in a fairly similar position to where they are now. The terms of the loans haven’t been generous enough that many states and businesses were willing to try to take them on, though Democrats argue that under Biden that could be fixed.
The larger concern was that it might hamstring the Fed’s ability to exercise its broad emergency powers and do real, lasting damage to the central bank and its role in fighting economic downturns.
Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke issued a statement over the weekend warning about the potential implications of the GOP’s proposal. He stressed that it is “vital” that the Fed be able to “respond promptly to damaging disruptions in credit markets” and that such ability not be curtailed. “The relief act should ensure, at least, that the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending authorities, as they stood before the CARES Act, remain fully intact and available to respond to future crises,” he said.
The US doesn’t want to end up in a situation where the Fed has to ask Congress every single time it wants to use emergency lending.
On Saturday, a spokesperson for Toomey said in an email that the senator did not want to change how the Fed operates generally. The spokesperson said that a speech the Pennsylvania Republican delivered on the Senate floor on Saturday “makes clear that the intent of this language is narrow and is not a sweeping rewrite of section 13(3), as some have suggested.”
As Jordan Weissmann at Slate pointed out, however, Republicans wanted to block the Fed from restarting lending programs that are “similar” to those from the CARES Act. What exactly “similar” means is the problem.
“If your language is very squishy, that can either mean you have a very expansive interpretation of it, or you have a very narrow interpretation of it,” Sahm said. And if the definition of “similar” is too expansive, that could dangerously kneecap the Fed.
“These emergency facilities, that power to do emergency lending, that is more important than monetary policy, than bank regulations. This is the thing that the Fed does, it’s the thing we absolutely have to have,” she said. “These are core powers of the Fed, and so if you’re taking this away, you’re really crippling the Fed.”
“The risk is that it greatly diminishes the ability of the Fed to exercise its emergency powers and support the economy in the next crisis,” Roberto Perli, a partner at the finance analysis firm Cornerstone Macro, told Bloomberg. “If I were the Fed, I would strenuously oppose this.”
This is a bit of a hostage situation using the Fed
The American people need help, and they need help now. Millions are at risk of eviction in January, millions are out of work, and millions are hungry. Congress has the power to change this, and it needs to do it. It’s not clear what the real good-faith argument is for why curbing the Fed’s emergency lending programs mid-pandemic is worth mass homelessness or stopping people from accessing basic necessities.
But on its face, this is an effort by Republicans to limit what Biden can do on the economy when he takes office. Especially in the event where Congress won’t take action — which it’s failed to do, basically, since March — you want the Fed to have all the tools in the toolbox available. And it’s reasonable to assume congressional inaction will continue into the Biden administration, making the Fed an even more important part of an economic recovery.
It is true that a lot of states and businesses weren’t falling over themselves to get loans from the Fed, but there’s an argument to be made that that’s not really the point: Just the knowledge that the Fed is there as a last-resort lender is meaningful in shoring up confidence in the economy and keeping financial markets moving. The Fed just saying it would buy corporate bonds kept the corporate bond market moving in the spring.
The fear that the Fed would help Biden get money to state and local governments defies easy explanation. Many in the GOP seem to believe that budget shortfalls are only a blue state problem and therefore have little desire to do anything to help, or, in this case, seem hell-bent on blocking any potential aid. States run by Democrats are absolutely not the only ones facing tax revenue declines, but also, lawmakers represent all Americans, not just the ones who align with them politically.
“It is clear that Republicans in Congress and the administration do not want to give money to state and local governments,” Sahm said. Why Republicans would be willing to hurt their own states in order to also hurt Democratic ones is far less clear.
The argument that the Fed should need to rely more on Congress to get the go-ahead on emergency lending programs is tough to swallow, given the events of this year. It was good back in March that Treasury and the Fed could quickly work together to really turn on emergency facilities and enact other market-stabilizing measures. Imagine them having to go through Congress, which is right now getting by on a two-day bill to fund the government, because it couldn’t meet a deadline that comes at the same time every year.
And if Republicans really do want to reform 13(3) powers, like lawmakers did for Dodd-Frank, doing so hastily seems less than ideal. “To rewrite 13(3) lending law like that on the fly seems pretty disturbing,” Bharat Ramamurti, a member of the Congressional Oversight Commission that oversees the CARES Act funds, told Slate.
He pointed out on Twitter that the GOP’s current position seems like a radical evolution of their earlier stance: In stimulus negotiations in the fall, Republicans were trying to end the CARES Act’s current lending programs, not permanently strip the Fed of those powers. Now, the tentative deal suggests lawmakers are basically back to where they were then.
Of course, there’s no way to know intentions here. Maybe this was another GOP-led effort to tank stimulus. Maybe Republicans just cannot stand the idea of states getting help. Maybe they really want to tie Biden’s hands. Or maybe Toomey really thinks this was his one shot at getting reforms at the Fed, so he took it.
But time is running out — a deal (or an extension) has to be passed before midnight Sunday to avoid a government shutdown — and a haphazard fix to a supposed problem that a couple of weeks ago wasn’t even on the radar is a roadblock the American people don’t need. Now, there seems to be a solution. Let’s hope it sticks.


vox--2020-12-19--Facing a new coronavirus strain, the UK imposes a strict lockdown

Facing a new , and potentially more contagious , variant of the coronavirus , UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is implementing lockdown measures in London and throughout southeast England that include a ban on holiday gatherings outside immediate households .
Coming after months of a patchwork response to the pandemic from Johnson ’ s administration — and a week after assurances that Christmas celebrations with up to three separate households would be permitted — his critics are pointing to this latest response as further evidence of shaky leadership amid a crisis that has led to nearly 2 million Britons infected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 67,000 .
Johnson announced the measures on Saturday following an emergency cabinet meeting in which top government officials discussed a new strain of the coronavirus that the prime minister said is 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions .
Some experts have cautioned that more study must be done to prove whether the mutation is actually more transmissible .
“ When the virus changes its method of attack , we must change our method of defense , ” Johnson said .
“ We have to act on information as we have it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fast.
” The announcement follows a week in which Covid-19 case rates in London almost doubled , and government officials said more than 60 percent of cases in the city are attributable to the new strain , known as VUI-202012/01 .
This strain is not believed to be deadlier than previous variants , the nation ’ s chief medical officer , Chris Whitty , said .
“ There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments , although urgent work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whitty said .
The latest lockdown is the country ’ s strictest since March , and will go into effect on Sunday .
It will be reviewed again on December 30 , and is an attempt to stop the spread of the new strain beyond England ’ s southeastern region and its center , London , Johnson said on Saturday .
The new restrictions dictate that nonessential travel — defined as travel for work , education , or health care — in the region is banned .
Nonessential shops and businesses , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , are ordered closed .
The area has been placed in the newly created Tier 4 on England ’ s tier system of risk , with areas designated Tier 1 considered to be places where Covid-19 is more under control .
For weeks , Johnson has struggled to balance a strong public health response to rapidly growing case numbers with pressure not to further damage the economy .
As the Christmas holiday period approached , he pledged to loosen restrictions to allow five days of subdued merriment .
“ Have yourself a merry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alas , preferably a very little Christmas , ” he said last week .
The British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal published a joint editorial this week , criticizing the government ’ s response to date , and saying that allowing even small holiday gatherings could lead to a spate of new infections that would overwhelm the National Health Service .
“ The government was too slow to introduce restrictions in the spring and again in the autumn .
It should now reverse its rash decision to allow household mixing , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Johnson appears to have taken that advice , up to a point : Areas outside of the Tier 4 zone will be allowed to have gatherings on Christmas — although for one day , rather than the multiple-day gatherings Johnson recently promised .
And overall , he said , the lockdown is part of an effort to slow the spread and flatten the curve , in order to prevent strain on hospitals .
“ Without action the evidence suggests infections would soar , hospitals would become overwhelmed and many thousands more would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saturday .
Johnson has been criticized for acting too slowly throughout the pandemic Other countries , including Italy , Austria , and Germany , have also tightened restrictions in response to the holiday season .
In France , bars and restaurants are ordered closed and a curfew is in place ; on Thursday , President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had tested positive for the virus .
Notably , however , the US — which has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world — has not tightened restrictions on the national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received pushback from his American counterpart , President Donald Trump , Saturday afternoon , with Trump writing on Twitter , “ The cure can not be worse than the problem itself !
” Trump has been staunchly anti-lockdown in the US , ceding decisions on efforts to control the spread to state-level leaders .
The US response has been haphazard at best , and about 300,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus this year .
Both the UK and the US are in the top 10 of countries for per-capita deaths from Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer , also criticized the lockdown , but on the grounds that Johnson ’ s rapid changes of policy were confusing .
“ I think the British public is entitled to more decisive leadership than that , ” he said .
As Joanne Silberner has reported for Vox , Covid-19 cases have been steadily increasing across the UK since September .
Johnson ’ s critics , Starmer among them , have accused the prime minister of a series of missteps that led to the country ’ s current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ describes poor handling of distributing PPE and implementing testing and contract tracing programs early on in the pandemic .
NHS staffers faced a severe shortage of masks and other equipment in the spring , and hundreds of health care workers died .
Testing efforts fell short in the spring , while a contact-tracing app faced challenges in the summer , and again during a second attempted roll-out in September .
Silberner also described an attempt to prioritize in-person dining over the summer , by subsidizing meals in August , a move that public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a word , it ’ s nuts , ” said Lawrence Gostin , director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University , about the dining subsidies .
“ In the midst of a pandemic , it ’ s actually directly opposite to what the public health evidence suggests.
” In spite of these missteps , Silberner describes a government that does not seem capable of learning from its own mistakes .
This now appears to be playing out in Johnson ’ s endorsement of inter-household visits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely to want some semblance of the traditions they were accustomed to .
But Johnson ’ s efforts to preserve tradition have failed due to choices made weeks ago — and now the UK must face extreme measures as the government struggles to deal with significant spikes in caseloads .

Facing a new, and potentially more contagious, variant of the coronavirus, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is implementing lockdown measures in London and throughout southeast England that include a ban on holiday gatherings outside immediate households.
Coming after months of a patchwork response to the pandemic from Johnson’s administration — and a week after assurances that Christmas celebrations with up to three separate households would be permitted — his critics are pointing to this latest response as further evidence of shaky leadership amid a crisis that has led to nearly 2 million Britons infected with Covid-19, and has killed more than 67,000.
Johnson announced the measures on Saturday following an emergency cabinet meeting in which top government officials discussed a new strain of the coronavirus that the prime minister said is 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions. Some experts have cautioned that more study must be done to prove whether the mutation is actually more transmissible.
“When the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our method of defense,” Johnson said. “We have to act on information as we have it, because this is now spreading very fast.”
The announcement follows a week in which Covid-19 case rates in London almost doubled, and government officials said more than 60 percent of cases in the city are attributable to the new strain, known as VUI-202012/01.
This strain is not believed to be deadlier than previous variants, the nation’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said.
“There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, although urgent work is underway to confirm this,” Whitty said.
The latest lockdown is the country’s strictest since March, and will go into effect on Sunday. It will be reviewed again on December 30, and is an attempt to stop the spread of the new strain beyond England’s southeastern region and its center, London, Johnson said on Saturday.
The new restrictions dictate that nonessential travel — defined as travel for work, education, or health care — in the region is banned. Nonessential shops and businesses, including gyms, salons, and movie theaters, are ordered closed. The area has been placed in the newly created Tier 4 on England’s tier system of risk, with areas designated Tier 1 considered to be places where Covid-19 is more under control.
For weeks, Johnson has struggled to balance a strong public health response to rapidly growing case numbers with pressure not to further damage the economy. As the Christmas holiday period approached, he pledged to loosen restrictions to allow five days of subdued merriment.
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas, but this year, alas, preferably a very little Christmas,” he said last week.
The British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal published a joint editorial this week, criticizing the government’s response to date, and saying that allowing even small holiday gatherings could lead to a spate of new infections that would overwhelm the National Health Service.
“The government was too slow to introduce restrictions in the spring and again in the autumn. It should now reverse its rash decision to allow household mixing,” the editorial read.
Now, however, Johnson appears to have taken that advice, up to a point: Areas outside of the Tier 4 zone will be allowed to have gatherings on Christmas — although for one day, rather than the multiple-day gatherings Johnson recently promised.
And overall, he said, the lockdown is part of an effort to slow the spread and flatten the curve, in order to prevent strain on hospitals.
“Without action the evidence suggests infections would soar, hospitals would become overwhelmed and many thousands more would lose their lives,” Johnson said Saturday.
Johnson has been criticized for acting too slowly throughout the pandemic
Other countries, including Italy, Austria, and Germany, have also tightened restrictions in response to the holiday season. In France, bars and restaurants are ordered closed and a curfew is in place; on Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had tested positive for the virus.
Notably, however, the US — which has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world — has not tightened restrictions on the national level. And Johnson’s decision received pushback from his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, Saturday afternoon, with Trump writing on Twitter, “The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself!”
We don’t want to have lockdowns. The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself! https://t.co/sHBJfG9T8X — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020
Trump has been staunchly anti-lockdown in the US, ceding decisions on efforts to control the spread to state-level leaders. The US response has been haphazard at best, and about 300,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus this year. Both the UK and the US are in the top 10 of countries for per-capita deaths from Covid-19.
Johnson’s opponent in Parliament, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, also criticized the lockdown, but on the grounds that Johnson’s rapid changes of policy were confusing.
“I think the British public is entitled to more decisive leadership than that,” he said.
As Joanne Silberner has reported for Vox, Covid-19 cases have been steadily increasing across the UK since September. Johnson’s critics, Starmer among them, have accused the prime minister of a series of missteps that led to the country’s current crisis.
Among these missteps, Silberner describes poor handling of distributing PPE and implementing testing and contract tracing programs early on in the pandemic. NHS staffers faced a severe shortage of masks and other equipment in the spring, and hundreds of health care workers died. Testing efforts fell short in the spring, while a contact-tracing app faced challenges in the summer, and again during a second attempted roll-out in September.
Silberner also described an attempt to prioritize in-person dining over the summer, by subsidizing meals in August, a move that public health officials largely condemned.
“In a word, it’s nuts,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, about the dining subsidies. “In the midst of a pandemic, it’s actually directly opposite to what the public health evidence suggests.”
In spite of these missteps, Silberner describes a government that does not seem capable of learning from its own mistakes. This now appears to be playing out in Johnson’s endorsement of inter-household visits during the Christmas holidays.
People were likely to want some semblance of the traditions they were accustomed to. But Johnson’s efforts to preserve tradition have failed due to choices made weeks ago — and now the UK must face extreme measures as the government struggles to deal with significant spikes in caseloads.


vox--2020-12-19--After decades of activism, the Navajo coal plant has been demolished

The three 775-foot smokestacks of the 2,250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station ( NGS ) — the West ’ s largest coal plant — were demolished December 18 , symbolically marking the end of coal ’ s dominance in a region where renewable energy sources like wind and solar have become far cheaper .
The Salt River Project ( SRP ) , majority owners and operators of NGS , decided to close the plant in 2017 due to rising operating costs .
Scott Harelson , a spokesperson for SRP , told me , “ Natural gas prices had been low for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lower than coal .
So the plant was out of market , essentially.
” The move to close the coal plant is a part of a broader shift to renewable energy taking place across the US and around the world .
According to a report by the International Energy Agency , electricity-generating renewables will have grown roughly 7 percent in 2020 , despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic .
This shift has been driven in part by concerns over climate change — but also by increasing questions about the potential health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than four decades , the station on the Arizona-Utah border had been a critical local employer , providing more than 800 Native people with jobs that paid much higher than the area average .
Harelson said 90 percent of the plant ’ s employees were Navajo .
The station officially shut down in November of 2019 once its remaining supply of coal had burned .
The Kayenta mine , which fed the plant , closed in August of 2019 because it didn ’ t have any other customers besides NGS .
Jobs there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per worker was $ 117,000 .
But for many members of the region ’ s Navajo and Hopi tribes , those high wages also came with a high price .
Critics of the facility point to its environmental costs as problematic — at one point it released more greenhouse gases at an hourly rate than almost any other facility in the US — and argued it polluted land and water used by Navajo ranchers and farmers .
In a statement Friday , members from organizations representing the Navajo and Hopi tribes welcomed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brought some financial benefits to their communities .
“ The demolition of the smokestacks at NGS is a solemn event , ” said Nicole Horseherder , executive director of the Navajo environmental grassroots group Tó Nizhóní Ání .
“ It ’ s a reminder of decades of exploitation subsidized by cheap coal and water from the Navajo and Hopi.
” In particular , Horseherder argued that the economic benefits were outweighed by coal miners suffering respiratory ailments and the land being contaminated by polluted water .
The statement also said that many Navajo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partake of the electricity and water the plant produced — that most of it went to nearby Phoenix , Arizona .
But now that the station has been demolished , some Navajo and Hopi members have high hopes for a strong future without the coal plant .
Carol Davis , executive director of the Navajo grassroots group Diné CARE , said in the statement , “ We ’ re hopeful that this marks the continuation of our transformation into a sustainable economy that is built on fundamental Navajo and Hopi respect for air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have direct , measurable benefits for our communities , not exploit them.
” Now that the smokestacks are gone , the land occupied by the facility will be turned over to the Navajo Nation — but first , SRP will be required to complete the complicated and expensive process of clearing the plant ’ s remaining infrastructure and returning the land to its original state .
“ All told , it ’ s about a $ 150 million effort to remove all the infrastructure that the Navajo Nation does not want to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warehouse , admin building , railroad , lake pump , those facilities , will remain and become property of the Navajo Nation.
” There is also chemical cleanup to do — toxic compounds like coal ash need to be removed .
“ All of the hazardous chemicals have to be removed and disposed of properly .
And there ’ s an extensive reclamation project to bring the project back to its original state , ” Harelson said .
SRP has promised to do this “ according to regulations and safety , ” but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been too little transparency as to what standards the company is following .
“ We need to tell the communities about the toxins that are there , ” Diné citizen scientist Kim Smith said .
“ Just because the smokestacks are going down there ’ s this mirage that everything is going to be okay , that we ’ re going to get what we ’ re owed , that the land is going back to what it was.
” Smith ’ s comments are a reminder that trust in SRP isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broken promises to the Native community before .
Cassie Scott , for instance , told the Associated Press that her grandmother had allowed part of her land to be used to build the plant in exchange for electricity .
However , Scott said , that power never came , and she died without it in 2013 .
“ The plant generated massive amounts of electricity , yet many homes on the Navajo reservation lacked electricity despite the proximity of the plant , ” Michael Hiatt , a staff attorney at environmental law organization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , NPR estimated that 10 percent of people in the Navajo reservation live without electricity .
Activists have said they plan to carefully watch the restoration process .
“ If the utilities don ’ t follow the letter of the law and don ’ t clean up or remediate , we ’ ll make sure that we do bring whatever legal challenges or pressure necessary to make sure it is cleaned up , ” Hiatt said .
The plant ’ s cleanup is scheduled to be completed by 2023 — and the mine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work could employ several hundred of those no longer working in energy generation , according to the Western Organization of Resource Councils , an environmental advocacy group , but has yet to begin .

The three 775-foot smokestacks of the 2,250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station (NGS) — the West’s largest coal plant — were demolished December 18, symbolically marking the end of coal’s dominance in a region where renewable energy sources like wind and solar have become far cheaper.
The Salt River Project (SRP), majority owners and operators of NGS, decided to close the plant in 2017 due to rising operating costs. Scott Harelson, a spokesperson for SRP, told me, “Natural gas prices had been low for a long period of time and are much lower than coal. So the plant was out of market, essentially.”
The move to close the coal plant is a part of a broader shift to renewable energy taking place across the US and around the world. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, electricity-generating renewables will have grown roughly 7 percent in 2020, despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. This shift has been driven in part by concerns over climate change — but also by increasing questions about the potential health impacts of fossil fuels.
For more than four decades, the station on the Arizona-Utah border had been a critical local employer, providing more than 800 Native people with jobs that paid much higher than the area average. Harelson said 90 percent of the plant’s employees were Navajo.
The station officially shut down in November of 2019 once its remaining supply of coal had burned. The Kayenta mine, which fed the plant, closed in August of 2019 because it didn’t have any other customers besides NGS. Jobs there also paid well: The average salary per worker was $117,000.
But for many members of the region’s Navajo and Hopi tribes, those high wages also came with a high price. Critics of the facility point to its environmental costs as problematic — at one point it released more greenhouse gases at an hourly rate than almost any other facility in the US — and argued it polluted land and water used by Navajo ranchers and farmers.
In a statement Friday, members from organizations representing the Navajo and Hopi tribes welcomed the razing, while acknowledging that the plant brought some financial benefits to their communities.
“The demolition of the smokestacks at NGS is a solemn event,” said Nicole Horseherder, executive director of the Navajo environmental grassroots group Tó Nizhóní Ání. “It’s a reminder of decades of exploitation subsidized by cheap coal and water from the Navajo and Hopi.”
Yesterday the #NavajoGeneratingStation was demolished. This was just 1 step in our decades-long work to secure a just, equitable energy transition for #FourCorners communities. We're excited for the road ahead. Thanks to @EcoFlight1 for the incredible video pic.twitter.com/44rKKMApRa — SJCAlliance (@SJCAlliance) December 19, 2020
In particular, Horseherder argued that the economic benefits were outweighed by coal miners suffering respiratory ailments and the land being contaminated by polluted water. The statement also said that many Navajo and Hopi had not been able to partake of the electricity and water the plant produced — that most of it went to nearby Phoenix, Arizona.
But now that the station has been demolished, some Navajo and Hopi members have high hopes for a strong future without the coal plant.
Carol Davis, executive director of the Navajo grassroots group Diné CARE, said in the statement, “We’re hopeful that this marks the continuation of our transformation into a sustainable economy that is built on fundamental Navajo and Hopi respect for air, land and water and that will have direct, measurable benefits for our communities, not exploit them.”
A massive cleanup operation has begun
Now that the smokestacks are gone, the land occupied by the facility will be turned over to the Navajo Nation — but first, SRP will be required to complete the complicated and expensive process of clearing the plant’s remaining infrastructure and returning the land to its original state.
“All told, it’s about a $150 million effort to remove all the infrastructure that the Navajo Nation does not want to keep,” Harelson said. “The warehouse, admin building, railroad, lake pump, those facilities, will remain and become property of the Navajo Nation.”
There is also chemical cleanup to do — toxic compounds like coal ash need to be removed. “All of the hazardous chemicals have to be removed and disposed of properly. And there’s an extensive reclamation project to bring the project back to its original state,” Harelson said.
SRP has promised to do this “according to regulations and safety,” but some activists are concerned that there has been too little transparency as to what standards the company is following.
“We need to tell the communities about the toxins that are there,” Diné citizen scientist Kim Smith said. “Just because the smokestacks are going down there’s this mirage that everything is going to be okay, that we’re going to get what we’re owed, that the land is going back to what it was.”
Smith’s comments are a reminder that trust in SRP isn’t universal, as the company has broken promises to the Native community before.
Cassie Scott, for instance, told the Associated Press that her grandmother had allowed part of her land to be used to build the plant in exchange for electricity. However, Scott said, that power never came, and she died without it in 2013.
“The plant generated massive amounts of electricity, yet many homes on the Navajo reservation lacked electricity despite the proximity of the plant,” Michael Hiatt, a staff attorney at environmental law organization Earthjustice, told me. In 2019, NPR estimated that 10 percent of people in the Navajo reservation live without electricity.
Activists have said they plan to carefully watch the restoration process.
“If the utilities don’t follow the letter of the law and don’t clean up or remediate, we’ll make sure that we do bring whatever legal challenges or pressure necessary to make sure it is cleaned up,” Hiatt said.
The plant’s cleanup is scheduled to be completed by 2023 — and the mine will need reclamation as well. That work could employ several hundred of those no longer working in energy generation, according to the Western Organization of Resource Councils, an environmental advocacy group, but has yet to begin.


vox--2020-12-19--For the first time in 800 years, you can watch a “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter and Saturn are due to converge in their orbits on Monday , appearing as a double planet in the night sky — the first such occurrence in almost 800 years .
The two planets have been near one another throughout the year , according to Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan .
They will reach their closest approach , passing within 0.1 degrees of each other during the winter solstice on December 21 , the longest night of the year .
The two celestial bodies pass one another about every 20 years , according to the Mount Wilson Observatory , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is referred to as a “ great conjunction , ” because they are the two largest planets .
But a passage as close as the one expected Monday has happened only a handful of times in the last two millennia .
And two of those occurrences , one in 769 and one in 1623 , happened too close to the sun to be seen with the unaided eye .
The last time a person could clearly see this event was on March 4 , 1226 .
Although the night of the solstice will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the conjunction is ongoing .
Their close approach will continue through Christmas , with the double planet appearing low in the western sky for about an hour after sunset , depending on conditions .
Because of the timing of the event , some early scientists — including noted astronomer Johannes Kepler — attempted to link the convergence to the so-called “ Christmas star ” or “ star of Bethlehem , ” which , according to the New Testament , guided the Magi to the birth of Jesus .
But modern astronomers have established @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that a similar great conjunction was at play around the time linked to the historical Jesus ’ s birth .
How to see Jupiter and Saturn ’ s great convergence Although the path of these planets will be far enough from the sun to be observable this year , the planets may be so close that it will be difficult to separate them unaided by a telescope , Hartigan writes .
Visibility is best by the equator , and becomes increasingly fleeting the farther north a person is .
This will make viewing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States , Canada , and Europe , for example .
Depending on weather conditions , however , those in the Northern Hemisphere should be able to glimpse the planets at twilight , for about an hour after sunset , by looking to the southwest .
Binoculars or a small telescope will make it easier to witness the event , and to separate the two planets .
Jupiter will be the clearer planet of the two , since it is far closer to Earth , with Saturn just next to it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ who don ’ t have access to binoculars , or just don ’ t want to miss the action , several planetariums have set up options to see the event up close .
Three California institutions — the Mount Wilson Observatory , Carnegie Observatories , and Glendale Community College — will host a virtual viewing party on Monday , beginning at 8 pm ET .
Viewers can sign up on Zoom or watch on YouTube to see the event through a Mount Wilson Observatory telescope .

Jupiter and Saturn are due to converge in their orbits on Monday, appearing as a double planet in the night sky — the first such occurrence in almost 800 years.
The two planets have been near one another throughout the year, according to Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan. They will reach their closest approach, passing within 0.1 degrees of each other during the winter solstice on December 21, the longest night of the year.
The two celestial bodies pass one another about every 20 years, according to the Mount Wilson Observatory, in Los Angeles County, in what is referred to as a “great conjunction,” because they are the two largest planets.
But a passage as close as the one expected Monday has happened only a handful of times in the last two millennia. And two of those occurrences, one in 769 and one in 1623, happened too close to the sun to be seen with the unaided eye.
The last time a person could clearly see this event was on March 4, 1226.
Although the night of the solstice will be the planets’ closest convergence, the conjunction is ongoing. Their close approach will continue through Christmas, with the double planet appearing low in the western sky for about an hour after sunset, depending on conditions.
Because of the timing of the event, some early scientists — including noted astronomer Johannes Kepler — attempted to link the convergence to the so-called “Christmas star” or “star of Bethlehem,” which, according to the New Testament, guided the Magi to the birth of Jesus. But modern astronomers have established that, timing-wise, it seems unlikely that a similar great conjunction was at play around the time linked to the historical Jesus’s birth.
How to see Jupiter and Saturn’s great convergence
Although the path of these planets will be far enough from the sun to be observable this year, the planets may be so close that it will be difficult to separate them unaided by a telescope, Hartigan writes.
Visibility is best by the equator, and becomes increasingly fleeting the farther north a person is. This will make viewing conditions less than ideal for residents of the United States, Canada, and Europe, for example.
Depending on weather conditions, however, those in the Northern Hemisphere should be able to glimpse the planets at twilight, for about an hour after sunset, by looking to the southwest.
Binoculars or a small telescope will make it easier to witness the event, and to separate the two planets. Jupiter will be the clearer planet of the two, since it is far closer to Earth, with Saturn just next to it.
For those in less ideal locales, who don’t have access to binoculars, or just don’t want to miss the action, several planetariums have set up options to see the event up close.
Three California institutions — the Mount Wilson Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, and Glendale Community College — will host a virtual viewing party on Monday, beginning at 8 pm ET. Viewers can sign up on Zoom or watch on YouTube to see the event through a Mount Wilson Observatory telescope.


vox--2020-12-19--How Russian hackers infiltrated the federal government

Hackers reportedly linked to the Russian government managed to hack into multiple US government agencies in what could be the largest hack of government systems since the Obama administration — or perhaps ever .
Malware inserted into third-party software may have given hackers access to various government systems for months .
It went undetected until last week , when a cybersecurity company that makes hacking tools discovered that its own systems were breached .
Security agencies are currently assessing exactly which departments were breached and what information was accessed .
So far , the Commerce Department has confirmed it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ departments , Department of Homeland Security , parts of the Pentagon , and the National Institutes of Health are reported to have been affected .
There will likely be more .
According to anonymous officials , the hackers are a Russian group called Cozy Bear , also known as APT29 .
It was also behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign staffers during her 2016 campaign , as well as the 2014 hack of the White House and State Department ’ s unclassified networks .
Cozy Bear is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on various organizations developing Covid-19 vaccines .
The group is linked to Russian intelligence , although Russia has denied any involvement — a position it maintains now .
“ Malicious activities in the information space contradicts the principles of the Russian foreign policy , national interests and our understanding of interstate relations , ” the Russian Embassy said in a statement .
“ Russia does not conduct offensive operations in the cyber domain.
” The Trump administration was initially reluctant to say much about the hack officially , or assign blame to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pompeo told Breitbart Radio News on Monday that Russia may have been behind it , but it may also have been China or North Korea .
Democrats had more to say .
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin called it “ virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States , ” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal ( D-CT ) said the classified information he received about “ Russia ’ s cyberattack ” left him feeling “ deeply alarmed , in fact downright scared.
” Sen. Mitt Romney ( R-UT ) came forward on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian bombers ... repeatedly flying undetected over our entire country.
” He criticized America ’ s “ glaringly inadequate ” cybersecurity defenses , as well as the president ’ s “ inexcusable silence and inaction ” in response to it .
Following these accusations by senators , Pompeo had become more definitive by the end of the week , “ We can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity , ” he said in an interview on Friday .
President Donald Trump , however , seemed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In his first comments about the hack , nearly a week after it was first reported , Trump tweeted that it had been exaggerated in the press and was “ under control , ” adding that China “ may ” be behind it , and that the hack may have affected voting machines in the election , which he still falsely insists that he won .
But Trump ’ s own former Department of Homeland Security adviser , Thomas Bossert , said in a New York Times op-ed that the “ magnitude @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overstate ” and that it would take years to understand how pervasive and damaging it was .
The hacks are believed to have begun last March through a network monitoring software called Orion Platform , which is made by a Texas company called SolarWinds .
SolarWinds says it has more than 300,000 customers around the world , including the American military , the Pentagon , the Department of Justice , the State Department , the Commerce and Treasury departments , and more than 400 Fortune 500 companies ( the webpage with this listing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afternoon ) .
But not all of those clients used the Orion Platform .
SolarWinds believes fewer than 18,000 customers were potentially affected , according to the Washington Post .
The hackers were somehow able to insert malware into software updates which , once installed , gave hackers access to those systems .
FireEye , a cybersecurity company that was also a victim of the SolarWinds hack , has named this malware “ SUNBURST.
” ( Microsoft has named it “ Solorigate.
” ) FireEye revealed last week that it was attacked “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” and was reportedly the first to discover the hack — not , apparently , the government agencies charged with protecting the nation ’ s cybersecurity infrastructure .
SolarWinds has now released software updates that fix the vulnerability and apologized “ for any inconvenience caused.
” The Commerce Department was among the first to confirm a breach of one of its agencies but has not specified which one was hit .
Citing anonymous sources , Reuters reported that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was the affected agency , and that hackers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months .
The Department of Energy has also said it found malware in its business networks , but it had not affected the “ mission essential national security functions.
” The departments of Treasury , State , Agriculture , and Homeland Security , as well as the National Institutes of Health , are also believed to have been affected , but they have not officially confirmed whether this is the case .
How extensive the hacks were or which systems were affected in those departments have also not been made public .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) issued an emergency directive on December 13 to federal civilian agencies to disconnect affected products from their networks immediately .
“ The NSC is working closely with CISA , FBI , the intelligence community , and affected departments and agencies to coordinate a swift and effective whole-of-government recovery and response to the recent compromise , ” National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said in a statement .
In contrast to the current president , President-elect Joe Biden was quick to respond to the news of the hack and forceful in his comments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a top priority at every level of government — and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office , ” Biden said in a statement on Thursday .
“ We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyber attacks in the first place .
We will do that by , among other things , imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks , including in coordination with our allies and partners .
Our adversaries should know that , as President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the face of cyber assaults on our nation.
” Open Sourced is made possible by Omidyar Network .
All Open Sourced content is editorially independent and produced by our journalists .

Federal security agencies have finally confirmed that the massive hack of government and private computer systems that was uncovered in mid-December was likely Russian in origin. A statement from a joint task force issued January 5 was one of the first from an administration that has been reluctant to share many details about the hack thus far, possibly because President Trump refuses to acknowledge that Russia was its most likely perpetrator. The Department of Justice has now revealed that its email accounts were breached as well.
The hackers reportedly managed to break into multiple US government agencies in what could be the largest hack of government systems since the Obama administration — or perhaps ever. The intrusion went undetected until December, when a cybersecurity company that makes hacking tools discovered that its own systems were breached. This means malware inserted into third-party software may have given hackers access to various government systems for months.
The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) are working together to investigate the breach. On January 5, the joint task force released a statement confirming that they believe the hackers were Russian and that, despite efforts to stop the intrusions, the attacks are still “ongoing.”
“This work indicates that an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor, likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks,” the statement said. “At this time, we believe this was, and continues to be, an intelligence gathering effort. We are taking all necessary steps to understand the full scope of this campaign and respond accordingly.”
The statement said the task force has found “fewer than 10” government agencies that were compromised so far, but it didn’t specify which ones. The Commerce, Energy, and Justice Departments have confirmed that they were hacked. The Treasury and State Departments, Department of Homeland Security, parts of the Pentagon, and the National Institutes of Health are reported to have been affected, too.
But the Trump administration, which has said little about the attack, has been reluctant to assign blame for it on Russia. The president even tweeted that it may have come from China and that it was under control. According to this new statement, however, it didn’t come from China, and it is certainly not under control.
What we know about Russia’s involvement — despite President Trump’s tweets suggesting otherwise
According to anonymous officials, the hackers are a Russian group called Cozy Bear, also known as APT29, that was also behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign staffers during her 2016 campaign, as well as the 2014 hack of the White House and State Department’s unclassified networks. Cozy Bear is also believed to be behind recent attacks on various organizations developing Covid-19 vaccines. The group is linked to Russian intelligence, although Russia has denied any involvement — a position it maintains now.
“Malicious activities in the information space contradicts the principles of the Russian foreign policy, national interests and our understanding of interstate relations,” the Russian Embassy said in a statement in December. “Russia does not conduct offensive operations in the cyber domain.”
The Trump administration was initially hesitant to say much about the hack officially, or assign blame to a specific country. A day after CISA publicly acknowledged the hack, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Breitbart Radio News that Russia may have been behind it, but that it may also have been China or North Korea.
Senators from both parties had more to say at the time. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called it “virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States,” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said the classified information he received about “Russia’s cyberattack” left him feeling “deeply alarmed, in fact downright scared.” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) compared the attack to “Russian bombers ... repeatedly flying undetected over our entire country.” He criticized America’s “glaringly inadequate” cybersecurity defenses, as well as the president’s “inexcusable silence and inaction” in response to it.
Following those statements, Pompeo told another conservative radio talk show that the Russians were “pretty clearly” behind the hack.
President Donald Trump, however, seemed to have received different information than everyone else. In his first comments about the hack, nearly a week after it was first reported, Trump tweeted that it had been exaggerated in the press and was “under control,” adding that China “may” be behind it, and that the hack may have affected voting machines in the election, which he still falsely insists that he won. (There is no evidence that voting machines were affected by the hack or compromised in any other way.)
But Trump’s own former Department of Homeland Security adviser, Thomas Bossert, said in a New York Times op-ed in December that the “magnitude of this ongoing attack is hard to overstate” and that it would take years to understand how pervasive and damaging it was.
How a weak link in a supply chain gave hackers access to the most secure systems
The hacks are believed to have begun last March through network monitoring software called Orion Platform, which is made by a Texas company called SolarWinds. The hackers were somehow able to insert malware into Orion Platform software updates which, once installed, gave hackers access to those systems. This is called a supply chain attack.
SolarWinds says it has more than 300,000 customers around the world, including the American military, the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, the State Department, the Commerce Department, the Treasury Department, and more than 400 Fortune 500 companies. But not all of those clients used the Orion Platform. SolarWinds believes fewer than 18,000 customers were potentially affected, according to the Washington Post, with the New York Times saying that as many as 250 government and business networks were accessed. The Wall Street Journal identified two dozen companies, including Cisco, Intel, and Deloitte, that fell victim to the hack.
SolarWinds has now released software updates that fix the vulnerability and apologized “for any inconvenience caused.”
SolarWinds does not appear to be the only attack vector. After previous denials, Microsoft confirmed on New Year’s Eve that its Office 365 software was also targeted by “a very sophisticated nation-state actor,” through its software resellers, but the company didn’t believe hackers were able to do much more than view source code.
FireEye, a cybersecurity company that was also a victim of the SolarWinds hack, has named this malware “SUNBURST.” (Microsoft has named it “Solorigate.”) FireEye was reportedly the first to discover the hack — not, apparently, the government agencies charged with protecting the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
The Commerce Department was among the first to confirm a breach of one of its agencies but has not specified which one was hit. Citing anonymous sources, Reuters reported that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was the affected agency, and that hackers have had access to staff emails for months. The Department of Energy has also said it found malware in its business networks, but it had not affected the “mission essential national security functions.” Nearly a month after the initial reports of the hack, the Justice Department confirmed that about 3 percent of its Microsoft Office 365 email accounts were “potentially accessed,” but did not believe that any of its classified systems were breached.
The departments of Treasury, State, Agriculture, and Homeland Security, as well as the National Institutes of Health, are also believed to have been affected, but they have not officially confirmed whether this is the case. How extensive the hacks were or which systems were affected in those departments have also not been made public.
In contrast to the current president, President-elect Joe Biden was quick to respond to the news of the hack and forceful in his comments.
“My administration will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government — and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office,” Biden said in a statement. “We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyber attacks in the first place. We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners. Our adversaries should know that, as President, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation.”
Open Sourced is made possible by Omidyar Network. All Open Sourced content is editorially independent and produced by our journalists.


vox--2020-12-19--Pompeo blames Russia for a hack on US agencies. Trump disagrees.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first member of the Trump administration to accuse Russia of cyberattacks against American federal agencies on Friday , days after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers attributed the attacks to the Kremlin .
“ This was a very significant effort , and I think it ’ s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity , ” he said on the Mark Levin Show , a conservative talk radio show .
“ We ’ re still unpacking precisely what it is , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will remain classified , ” Pompeo said .
“ But suffice it to say , there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of US government systems and , it now appears , the systems of private companies and governments across the world , as well.
” As first reported by Reuters on Sunday , hackers breached systems within the US departments of Homeland Security , State , Commerce , Energy , and Treasury .
It has since been discovered that the attacks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operated by SolarWinds , also affected thousands of smaller entities , including a county government in Arizona .
As Vox ’ s Alex Ward has reported , the cyberattacks may date back to March , and allowed access to the part of the Energy Department that oversees America ’ s nuclear arsenal .
Citing cybersecurity experts , Ward described it as “ one of the largest and most brazen hacks in American history , ” and potentially part of a larger global espionage effort .
President Donald Trump has been slow to speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interview Friday , Pompeo claimed that this is strategic .
“ I saw this in my time running the world ’ s premier espionage service at the CIA .
There are many things that you ’ d very much love to say , ‘ Boy , I ’ m going to call that out , ’ but a wiser course of action to protect the American people is to calmly go about your business and defend freedom , ” he said .
Saturday , however , Trump suggested on Twitter that the information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writing , “ Russia , Russia , Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is , for mostly financial reasons , petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China ( it may ! )
.
” The president also claimed , “ The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality , ” and that the hack could be evidence of vote manipulation during the November election .
In reality , however , cybersecurity experts have stressed the hack is of grave concern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence of fraud amid numerous recounts .
Ahead of his tweets , lawmakers of both parties were critical of Trump ’ s lack of response .
Sen. Mitt Romney ( R-UT ) said on Thursday that it was “ stunning ” that the White House had not yet responded .
And Sen. Mark Warner ( D-VA ) said in a statement Friday that “ it is extremely troubling that the President does not appear to be acknowledging , much less acting upon , the gravity of this situation.
” As the federal government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been done due to the breach , it has been reported that the US will shutter two consulates in Russia .
The move was reportedly decided upon shortly before information emerged about the cyberattacks — the decision was shared with lawmakers in a memo dated December 10 .
The memo cites staffing issues as the reason for suspending their operations , as reported by CNN .
The State Department “ intends to take these steps in response to ongoing staffing challenges for the U.S. Mission in Russia in the wake of the 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the resultant impasse with Russia over diplomatic visas , ” according to the notice .
After the US consulate in Vladivostok is closed , and operations are suspended at the Yekaterinburg consulate , the US embassy in Moscow will be the last remaining US outpost in that country .
What actions the US will take in direct response to the breach remains to be seen .
Biden has promised retaliation — but first the US may have to rebuild its networks In the wake of the attacks , many cybersecurity experts say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But destroying the compromised networks and rebuilding them could take months , experts told the Associated Press , because doing so would require identifying every single system that may have been hacked .
“ We have a serious problem .
We don ’ t know what networks they are in , how deep they are , what access they have , what tools they left , ” Bruce Schneier , a cybersecurity expert based at Harvard , told the AP .
And the fallout could take years to fully clean up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former homeland security adviser , in a New York Times op-ed on Wednesday .
“ It will take years to know for certain which networks the Russians control and which ones they just occupy , ” Bossert wrote .
At least 18,000 organizations were infected with malware that targeted the SolarWinds software .
In addition to the US agencies affected , large companies , businesses , and organizations — including Microsoft and Cisco Systems — were also hit .
And on Thursday , the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ( CISA ) suggested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US ’ s information security .
Saying SolarWinds software was not the only method by which hackers entered organizations , CISA described the sustained attacks as “ a grave risk to the Federal Government and state , local , tribal , and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.
” Later on Thursday , President-elect Joe Biden said that he will retaliate against those responsible , although he did not specify whether he meant individual actors or the Russian government as a whole .
“ We need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place , ” he said .
“ We will do that by , among other things , imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks , including in coordination with our allies and partners .
Our adversaries should know that , as president , I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation .
”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first member of the Trump administration to accuse Russia of cyberattacks against American federal agencies on Friday, days after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers attributed the attacks to the Kremlin.
“This was a very significant effort, and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity,” he said on the Mark Levin Show, a conservative talk radio show.
“We’re still unpacking precisely what it is, and I’m sure some of it will remain classified,” Pompeo said. “But suffice it to say, there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of US government systems and, it now appears, the systems of private companies and governments across the world, as well.”
As first reported by Reuters on Sunday, hackers breached systems within the US departments of Homeland Security, State, Commerce, Energy, and Treasury. It has since been discovered that the attacks, conducted by hacking a network management software operated by SolarWinds, also affected thousands of smaller entities, including a county government in Arizona.
As Vox’s Alex Ward has reported, the cyberattacks may date back to March, and allowed access to the part of the Energy Department that oversees America’s nuclear arsenal. Citing cybersecurity experts, Ward described it as “one of the largest and most brazen hacks in American history,” and potentially part of a larger global espionage effort.
President Donald Trump has been slow to speak publicly about the hack. In his interview Friday, Pompeo claimed that this is strategic.
“I saw this in my time running the world’s premier espionage service at the CIA. There are many things that you’d very much love to say, ‘Boy, I’m going to call that out,’ but a wiser course of action to protect the American people is to calmly go about your business and defend freedom,” he said.
Saturday, however, Trump suggested on Twitter that the information Pompeo shared might not be correct, writing, “Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!).”
The president also claimed, “The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality,” and that the hack could be evidence of vote manipulation during the November election. In reality, however, cybersecurity experts have stressed the hack is of grave concern, and election experts have found no evidence of fraud amid numerous recounts.
The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020
....discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!). There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA. @DNI_Ratcliffe @SecPompeo — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020
Ahead of his tweets, lawmakers of both parties were critical of Trump’s lack of response. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said on Thursday that it was “stunning” that the White House had not yet responded.
And Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said in a statement Friday that “it is extremely troubling that the President does not appear to be acknowledging, much less acting upon, the gravity of this situation.”
As the federal government works to understand what damage may have been done due to the breach, it has been reported that the US will shutter two consulates in Russia. The move was reportedly decided upon shortly before information emerged about the cyberattacks — the decision was shared with lawmakers in a memo dated December 10.
The memo cites staffing issues as the reason for suspending their operations, as reported by CNN.
The State Department “intends to take these steps in response to ongoing staffing challenges for the U.S. Mission in Russia in the wake of the 2017 Russian-imposed personnel cap on the U.S. Mission and the resultant impasse with Russia over diplomatic visas,” according to the notice.
After the US consulate in Vladivostok is closed, and operations are suspended at the Yekaterinburg consulate, the US embassy in Moscow will be the last remaining US outpost in that country. What actions the US will take in direct response to the breach remains to be seen.
Biden has promised retaliation — but first the US may have to rebuild its networks
In the wake of the attacks, many cybersecurity experts say that the US must rebuild its networks.
But destroying the compromised networks and rebuilding them could take months, experts told the Associated Press, because doing so would require identifying every single system that may have been hacked.
“We have a serious problem. We don’t know what networks they are in, how deep they are, what access they have, what tools they left,” Bruce Schneier, a cybersecurity expert based at Harvard, told the AP.
And the fallout could take years to fully clean up, wrote Thomas Bossert, Trump’s former homeland security adviser, in a New York Times op-ed on Wednesday.
“It will take years to know for certain which networks the Russians control and which ones they just occupy,” Bossert wrote.
At least 18,000 organizations were infected with malware that targeted the SolarWinds software. In addition to the US agencies affected, large companies, businesses, and organizations — including Microsoft and Cisco Systems — were also hit.
And on Thursday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) suggested there could be further damage to the US’s information security. Saying SolarWinds software was not the only method by which hackers entered organizations, CISA described the sustained attacks as “a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.”
Later on Thursday, President-elect Joe Biden said that he will retaliate against those responsible, although he did not specify whether he meant individual actors or the Russian government as a whole.
“We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place,” he said. “We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners. Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation.”