US Democrats denounce reported NSA chief's dismissal
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Leading congressional Democrats criticize reports of General Timothy Haugh's dismissal as National Security Agency director.
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Gen. Timothy Haugh, Director of the National Security Agency, attends a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on March 11, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
Leading congressional Democrats voiced strong opposition on Thursday over the dismissal of General Tim Haugh as director of the National Security Agency (NSA), with one lawmaker warning the move “makes all of us less safe.”
According to The Washington Post, Haugh and his civilian deputy, Wendy Noble, were removed from their positions.
Haugh also led US Cyber Command, overseeing the Pentagon’s cybersecurity efforts. The report, published late Thursday, cited two current and one former US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Senator Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated, “General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years. At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyber threats, how does firing him make Americans any safer?”
Representative Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, expressed deep concern over the decision, saying he was “deeply disturbed.”
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first – I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this administration,” Himes added. “The intelligence committee and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”
Trump fires NSC officials amid loyalty concerns
President Donald Trump said he had fired “some” White House National Security Council officials earlier on Thursday, a move that came a day after far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.
During her Oval Office meeting with Trump, Loomer pressed the president to remove staffers she viewed as not fully committed to his Make America Great Again agenda, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussion.
They requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive personnel issue.
“Always we’re letting go of people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he made his way to Miami on Thursday afternoon, adding, “People that we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people that may have loyalties to somebody else.”
The dismissals follow continued pressure on Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, who is facing calls for removal after using the publicly available encrypted Signal app to discuss plans for a classified March 15 military operation against the Yemeni Armed Forces in Yemen.
On Thursday night, Warner said, “It is astonishing, too, that President Trump would fire the nonpartisan, experienced leader of the National Security Agency while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on a commercial messaging app – even as he apparently takes staffing direction on national security from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office.”
NSA shake-up
Last month, Haugh met with Elon Musk, whose "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) has caused chaos across federal agencies by cutting staff and budgets. According to an NSA statement, the meeting aimed to ensure both organizations were “aligned” with the new administration’s priorities.
Haugh had been leading both the NSA and Cyber Command since 2023. These agencies are central to US cybersecurity efforts, with the NSA handling global data collection and analysis to support the military and national security agencies.
Cyber Command serves as the nation’s frontline defense in cyberspace and is responsible for planning offensive cyber operations against adversaries. In a recent shift, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a pause on certain offensive cyber operations targeting Russia, marking another example of how the Trump administration is reshaping the intelligence community’s mission.
