U.S. Senators, led by Mazie K. Hirono, have approached President Donald Trump with concerns over recent leadership changes within the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM). The dismissal of General Timothy Haugh, Director of the NSA and Commander of CYBERCOM, along with the reassignment of Deputy Director Wendy Noble, prompted a letter from Hirono and 23 other senators.
In their letter, the lawmakers warned, "These actions severely compromise our ability to keep Americans safe. As you are well aware, our nation currently faces serious cyber threats from foreign adversaries, such as from China’s Salt Typhoon, with near-daily attacks against our critical infrastructure."
The senators expressed concerns that these firings occurred "without cause or warning" and during a time of ongoing military operations "from the Houthis in Yemen to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe." They argued that such leadership changes could disrupt crucial intelligence operations.
They emphasized the potential negative impact on the dual-hat arrangement, stating: "Premature termination of the dual-hat arrangement would severely degrade the speed and effectiveness of NSA’s and CYBERCOM’s abilities to execute their missions and could have dire consequence for our national security."
The letter highlighted past bipartisan support for maintaining the dual-hat structure and stressed the need for specific criteria and certification by the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs before any termination.
Finally, the senators requested a written explanation for the personnel changes and asked for a Congressional briefing on potential additional actions impacting NSA and CYBERCOM.
The letter was signed by several other senators, including Mark Warner, Jack Reed, and Chris Coons.
The full text of the letter is available to the public.