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March 19, 2026

3 entries on this date.

NBC News investigation revealed Corey Lewandowski solicited kickback payments from DHS contractors GEO Group and Salus

NBC News published an investigation on March 19, 2026 reporting that Corey Lewandowski, a Department of Homeland Security special government employee functioning as de facto chief of staff to Secretary Kristi Noem, solicited payments from DHS contractors GEO Group and Salus Worldwide Solutions in exchange for protecting or securing their contracts. GEO Group's founder declined the demand, while representatives connected to Salus were told a Lewandowski-tied "consultant" needed to be hired to secure contracts worth up to $50 million. Congressional Democrats opened multiple investigations following the report, and Lewandowski denied the allegations through a spokesperson.

CDC blocks publication of cleared MMWR study showing COVID vaccine effectiveness

A CDC scientific report finding that the 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine roughly halved healthy adults' risk of emergency-department visits and hospitalizations was scheduled to run in the agency's flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on March 19, 2026, after clearing internal scientific review. Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya blocked its publication, objecting to the study's test-negative design — a methodology the CDC has long used to measure vaccine effectiveness and that appeared in an MMWR flu-vaccine study the prior month. A former CDC immunization director called blocking an already-cleared, scheduled MMWR report unprecedented.

JTF Southern Spear killed two aboard suspected narcotics vessel in eastern Pacific; 46th strike, ~158 campaign deaths

On March 19, 2026, U.S. Southern Command (Joint Task Force Southern Spear) carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel it described as transiting known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific Ocean, identified by USNI News as the 46th strike since the administration's maritime lethal-force campaign began on September 1, 2025. SOUTHCOM announced the strike the next day and said it had notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue for survivors; the Coast Guard ultimately rescued one survivor, and two people were killed. As throughout the campaign, which by this point had killed at least 156 people, those aboard were targeted without charge, trial, identification, or judicial authorization.