ronfromnj

Regarding why they stopped expedited passports, the state dept website states the following:

We are making this change to address the problem of third parties booking appointments online using automated programs, or bots, and then selling these appointments to customers with urgent travel needs.

In other words, the third-party agents that help clients procure expedited passports are the ones that are responsible for the current situation. And of course they’re now standing by ready to help.