Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that President Trump sought to “consolidate” the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command roles. In actuality, President Trump seeks to discontinue the so-called “dual-hat” role in which one officer would head-up both the NSA and Cyber Command. Based on recommendations from the America First Policy Institute, the Trump administration aims to separate the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command.The grim parade of firings in the national security establishment has continued with news early Friday morning in the Washington Post that Gen. Timothy Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble were both dismissed by President Trump.Gen. Haugh served as both NSA Director and head of U.S. Cyber Command, a so-called “dual-hat” role that President Trump has had eyes on to separate for several years.It was unclear precisely what the motives were for the top-level firings at the nation’s top spy agency. There was nobody who confirmed if the firings were a direct result of yesterday’s move by NSA to tie the Russians to the fast flux attacks that were reported on yesterday, or if this was desire to separate the NSA and Cyber Command functions that the Trump administration has talked about for some while.What we know as of Friday afternoon is that President Trump’s firing of Gen. Haugh and his top deputy followed news that multiple National Security Council members were fired Thursday after conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer visited President Trump at the White House.Loomer went on the offensive Friday morning with a Tweet that said NSA Director Haugh and Noble have been disloyal to President Trump.“That is why they have been fired,” said Loomer on X. “As a Biden appointee, General Haugh had no place serving in the Trump admin given the fact that he was ‘hand-picked’ by General [Mark] Milley, who was accused of committing treason by President Trump. Why would we want an NSA Director who was referred to Biden after being hand selected by Milley, who told China he would side with them over Trump.”Top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence expressed serious concerns about the recent national security firings, especially the dismissal of Gen. Haugh.“It is astonishing that President Trump would fire the nonpartisan leader of the NSA while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on Signal – even as he apparently takes staffing direction from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office,” said Sen. Mark Warner, (D-Va.), vice chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.On the House side, Jim Himes, (D. Conn.) ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he was “deeply disturbed” by the decision to remove Gen. Haugh from his position at NSA.“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 to his firing in this administration,” said Rep. Himes. “The Intelligence Committee and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”SC Media made efforts to contact Sen. Tom Cotton, (R-Ark.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Cotton serves as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and longtime Senator Collins also serves as a member of the intelligence committee.Efforts to contact Sens. Cotton and Collins were unsuccessful. It should also be noted that when we called both offices we got voicemail responses, with no referral to press people. Attempts to reach the Senators by email were also unsuccessful.Response from the industry somewhat mutedWhile given the fear the recent government layoffs, stock market tumble and the intelligence community firings have caused, it’s understandable that most industry people we contacted for comment refused to respond.However, there were some takers.Chad Cragle, chief information security officer at Deepwatch, said the removal of both the NSA Director and the Deputy at Cyber Command isn’t just a routine shakeup: it’s a thunderclap.“Moves like this don’t happen without purpose,” said Cragle. “Just after the NSA’s public attribution of nation-state activity in the fast-flux infrastructure space, the timing suggests a deliberate pivot. It signals a serious effort to recalibrate national cyber priorities regarding alignment, accountability, or strategic direction. The message is clear: leadership matters, and course corrections will occur when confidence wavers.”When asked if he thought President Trump’s move to fire the NSA brass had something to do with separating the NSA/Cyber Command roles, Cragle didn’t think the dual-hat concept had much to do with this latest round.“The dual-hat role of leading the NSA and Cyber Command has long raised questions: it seems efficient on paper but is complex in practice,” said Cragle. “If Trump aims to streamline command or reshape priorities, this could be a strategic move to clear the slate. It’s similar to a startup executive juggling too many roles; eventually, you must split responsibilities or bring in someone with a different operating model. This doesn’t seem like routine turnover: it feels intentional.”John Bambenek, president at Bambenek Consulting, said considering the high-profile nature of the NSA and President Trump oft-stated loathing of the so-called “Deep State,” it’s more surprising that this didn’t happen immediately after he took office.“New administrations, especially from different parties, will often want to install their own heads of agencies,” said Bambenek. “In that sense, I’m less concerned about their removal and more concerned who will replace them. Those individuals, and their priorities, will determine the focus of the NSA and Cyber Command and whether their interests align with what threats we actually face is what I’m most interested in seeing. The sooner we know who those individuals will be, the sooner (hopefully) concerns can be allayed.”This story was updated on April 5 at 6:37 p.m. Eastern time.
