OUR PICKSThe Movement to “Reindustrialize,” and Rearm, America | Private-Sector Involvement in Offensive Cyber Operations | In the 1950s, America Built the Greatest Doomsday Weapon Ever, and more

RFK Jr. Wants to Change a Program That Stopped Vaccine Makers From Leaving the U.S. Market. They Could Flee Again.  (Patricia Callahan, ProPublica)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is targeting a little-known program that underpins childhood immunizations in the U.S. by paying people who suffer rare side effects from shots. Dramatic changes to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program risk driving drugmakers from the market, threatening access to shots, experts say. The program underscores the fragility of America’s childhood immunization program at a time when Kennedy is renewing debunked claims about the dangers of vaccines.

Microsoft Says It Has Stopped Using China-Based Engineers to Support Defense Department Computer Systems  (Renee Dudley, ProPublica)
After a ProPublica investigation revealed how Microsoft’s “digital escort” tech support service could expose sensitive government data to cyberattacks, the company says China-based engineers will no longer provide assistance on DOD cloud services.

Two Days Inside the Movement to “Reindustrialize,” and Rearm, America  (Farah Stockman, New York Times)
Investors from Silicon Valley and senior officials in the Trump administration descended on a convention hall in downtown Detroit last week for a conference committed to spurring a “techno-industrial renaissance” in the United States.

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm  (Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow, New York Times)
The decision comes after a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to slash the federal work force and dismantle agencies.

Army Special Operations Warns Retired Members of Terror Threat  (Eric Schmitt and Julian E. Barnes, New York Times)
The alert, issued to retired service members who served in Iraq or Syria and live in Florida, did not specify what kind of threat or which terrorist group was involved.

A Swarm at Sea: Supplying Troops with On-Demand Autonomous Watercraft (Kanna Rajan and Karlyn D. Stanley, The Hill)
In any drawn-out military confrontation, the U.S. must support its ground forces with food, fuel, ammunition and weapons. In a conflict with China over Taiwan, however, that material will be coming from as far away as the Philippines and Japan.
That means relying on the large, mostly unarmed, civilian-crewed ships, such as those operated by the Military Sealift Command, which are highly visible and vulnerable to attack. Military Sealift Command ships could be overwhelmed by the numerically superior and militarized Chinese “fishing fleet”
A less vulnerable and more scalable method would be to use low-cost, rapidly built, small autonomous surface vessels to deliver supplies.

How Appropriations Are Transforming the Defense Department’s Domestic Operations  (Chris Mirasola, Lawfare)
Congress and the Trump administration are using appropriations law to entrench the Defense Department’s roles in migrant detention and immigration enforcement.

Partners or Provocateurs? Private-Sector Involvement in Offensive Cyber Operations  (Sezaneh Seymour and Brandon Wales, Lawfare)
A structured framework to evaluate the risks and benefits of authorizing private companies to “hack back.”

Rethinking the Global AI Race  (Lt. Gen. (ret.) John (Jack) N.T. Shanahan and Kevin Frazier, Just Security)
The global competition over artificial intelligence is increasingly framed in stark and dramatic terms, often compared to the Manhattan Project, a new arms race, or a moonshot project requiring incredible resources to attain a difficult, if not, impossible goal. These analogies all suffer from a common flaw: they point us toward the wrong goal. AI is not a discrete project with a clear endpoint, like building a nuclear weapon or landing on the moon. It is a long-term, society-wide effort to develop powerful tools and ensure their benefits reach classrooms, battlefields, factories, and start-ups alike.

Every Day Is a Good Day to Repeal the Jones Act (Paige Lambermont and Ryan Young, National Interest)
Outdated restrictions on internal shipping no longer bolster national security and, in fact, hinder national economic development.

In the 1950s, America Built the Greatest Doomsday Weapon Ever  (Brandon J. Weichert, National Interest)
In spite of its cancellation, SLAM left an imprint in the minds of America’s defense planners and military scientists—and pushed the boundaries of nuclear propulsion technology.