April 4 (UPI) — Gen. Timothy Haugh, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, and his deputy have been fired, according to reports.
Haugh and Deputy NSA Director Wendy Noble, the agency’s senior civilian leader, were removed from their positions on Thursday, The New York Times, NBC News and CBS News reported, citing anonymous sources.
The cause for the dismissals was not known.
Haugh has been commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the NSA since February 2024.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called on the Trump administration to explain the firing of the head of the nonpartisan national security department.
“I am deeply disturbed by the decision to remove Gen. Haugh as director of the National Security Agency. I have known Gen. 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 said in a statement.
“The Intelligence Committee and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”
The dismissal of Haugh and Noble comes as President Donald Trump has been criticized for not firing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or others involved in sharing sensitive military bombing plans over the Signal smartphone messaging application last month.
“It is astonishing that President Trump would fire the nonpartisan, experienced leader of the NSA while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on a commercial messaging app,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virgina, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
“At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyber threats, as the Salt Typhoon cyberattack from China has so clearly underscored, how does firing him make Americans any safer?” Warner asked, referring to the China-linked cyber group being held responsible for recently compromising network infrastructure of multiple major U.S. telecommunication and Internet service providers.
