The trump administration suspends Microsoft and seven other firms from a key green-card program

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Microsoft is suspended from PERM, the Labor Department's permanent labor certification and the usual first step toward an employment-based green card. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling named seven more: Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini.

The Labor Department will take no new applications from the eight and will not process pending ones, with no end date set. Vance alleged Microsoft laid off 6,000 US workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas. Microsoft disputed the allegations, saying it pays H-1B employees the same as others doing comparable work.

The same day, President Trump presented Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Labor's inspector general is also examining J-1 visa use at nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford and MIT.