A Suspension and a Trophy. Quite the Review.

Viddy this, droogies: Washington has put Microsoft’s paperwork in the penalty box while keeping its chief executive in the awards queue. Splendid calendar management.

The performance review

On October 8, Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced a PERM labor-certification suspension covering Microsoft, Adobe and six major IT services firms. Reuters reports that Sonderling said the government would accept no new applications or process pending ones involving those companies. Officials alleged fraud; Microsoft had not immediately responded when Reuters filed its report.^[1]

Meanwhile, Associated Press reported that President Trump was scheduled to present Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation later that same day. At our initial check on October 8 at 17:38 UTC, the ceremony’s completion had not been confirmed.^[2]

Read the small print

PERM is a labor-certification step toward many employment-based green cards. The Labor Department says employers must generally establish that suitable U.S. workers are unavailable before moving on to an immigration petition. The announced processing halt does not establish that existing H-1B visas or green cards have been cancelled. The fraud accusations remain allegations, not findings of guilt.^[1][3]

There’s a serious question underneath the ceremony: what evidence supports this sweeping pause, and what happens to workers with pending cases? A medal won’t answer either.

One counter for the paperwork. Another for the applause. Bring your patience, droogies.

October 8 update: the medal was presented

The White House’s October 8 release, published at 18:32 UTC, says Trump presented the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Satya Nadella. That confirms the ceremony after our initial report; it does not change the stated PERM processing halt or establish the fraud allegations.^[4]