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The Trump administration has fired Timothy Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, several news publications reported overnight into Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haugh, a career military official, led the National Security Agency, the U.S.\u2019 main wiretapping and intelligence gathering agency, for little more than a year after his appointment in February 2024 following his predecessor\u2019s retirement. Haugh also oversaw Cyber Command, a military unit that conducts offensive cyber operations against U.S. adversaries.<\/p>\n
The Washington Post<\/a>, which first reported the news, and The New York Times<\/a>, said the firings come after right-wing activist Laura Loomer advocated for Haugh\u2019s firing along with several other national security officials during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday.<\/p>\n NSA deputy director Wendy Noble, who served as the agency\u2019s top civilian leader, was also let go, according to reports<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear who is currently overseeing the NSA and Cyber Command following Haugh\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for The White House did not immediately comment on the reason for Haugh\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n \t\t\tDo you work at NSA or in government and know more? You can contact Zack Whittaker on Signal at zackwhittaker.1337 \u2014 and share documents securely with TechCrunch via SecureDrop<\/a>.\t\t<\/div>\n Eddie Bennett, a spokesperson for the National Security Agency, deferred comment to the Department of Defense, which houses the NSA. <\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Department of Defense, who did not provide their name, told TechCrunch that the organization has \u201cseen the reports but have nothing to offer at this time,\u201d and that it will \u201cprovide more information when it becomes available.\u201d<\/p>\n The move to oust one of the country\u2019s top intelligence officials appeared to catch senior lawmakers overseeing the agency by surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement, Mark Warner, a Democrat senator from Virginia and vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the news of Haugh\u2019s firing \u201castonishing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGeneral Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years,\u201d said Warner. \u201cAt 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?,\u201d he wrote, referring to a series of long-running China-led hacks against U.S. phone and internet giants<\/a> that were discovered last year.<\/p>\n Warner also criticized the Trump administration for the firing while \u201cstill failing to hold any member of his team accountable\u201d for sharing classified information about air strikes in Yemen in a Signal messaging group chat with several other senior cabinet-level officials, which inadvertently included a journalist<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jim Himes, a Democrat congressman who heads the House\u2019s intelligence committee, said in remarks that he was \u201cdeeply disturbed\u201d by the decision to remove Haugh.<\/p>\n In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk, who heads the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>, met with Haugh at the NSA\u2019s headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. At the time, the NSA said the meeting was to ensure its priorities were aligned with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Musk had previously called for an \u201coverhaul\u201d at the spy agency, but did not provide specifics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nContact us securely<\/h4>\n