Democrats criticize Trump's firing of National Security Agency director

Briana Reilly, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 4, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders on Friday decried the Trump administration’s abrupt firing of a top Pentagon intelligence and cyber officer, the most high-profile dismissal of a senior military official since the removal of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in February.

News broke late Thursday night that Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, who had been dual-hatted as the National Security Agency director and head of U.S. Cyber Command, had been ousted, although it wasn’t immediately clear why.

The move came after GOP activist Laura Loomer in a White House meeting urged President Donald Trump to fire a series of national security personnel, according to media reports. In the aftermath, a half-dozen National Security Council officials were let go, per reports.

Communications officials with NSA, the White House and U.S. Cyber Command all directed inquiries about Haugh’s departure to the Defense Department, which did not respond to a request for comment.

In a post on X, Loomer wrote that Haugh and NSA Deputy Director Wendy Noble, who was also dismissed, “have been disloyal to President Trump” and “that is why they have been fired.”

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said he was “alarmed and angered” that the influence of “a far-right conspiracy theorist” led Trump to push out Haugh.

“I have long warned about the dangers of firing military officers as a political loyalty test,” Reed said in a press release. “In addition to the other military leaders and national security officials Trump has fired, he is sending a chilling message throughout the ranks: don’t give your best military advice, or you may face consequences. The president must immediately explain himself to the American people.”

Across the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., praised Haugh as a “patriotic, principled and highly-prepared” NSA leader and said Republicans “are taking orders from” individuals like Loomer.

“The decision by Donald Trump to fire General Haugh is outrageous and makes the American people less safe in an increasingly dangerous world,” Jeffries added.

Haugh has served in his dual roles for more than a year. Former President Joe Biden had tapped Haugh for the job, and he was confirmed by the Senate via voice vote in December 2023.

Haugh’s dismissal comes as other changes at CYBERCOM and the National Security Agency are potentially under consideration. The Record previously reported that Trump officials were looking into breaking up the dual-hat arrangement, in which the command and agency share a single leader. It’s unclear whether Trump will ultimately appoint a single officer to oversee both after Haugh’s departure.

Congressional Republicans have largely refrained from commenting on Haugh’s ousting, with the exception of House Armed Services cyber subcommittee Chair Don Bacon, R-Neb., who in a social media post described Haugh as “an outstanding leader” who “was doing a superb job at Cyber Command and National Security Agency.”

“He was fired with no public explanation,” Bacon continued. “This action sets back our Cyber and Signals Intelligence operations.”

Democratic intelligence leaders also sounded the alarm over Haugh’s firing.

House Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes, D-Conn., said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed” by the move, while his Senate counterpart, Mark Warner, D-Va., defended Haugh’s record.

“General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years,” Warner said in a press release. “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?”

Haugh was slated to testify before the Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee in open and closed session next Wednesday regarding Cyber Command’s forthcoming fiscal 2026 budget request.

As of Friday afternoon, the hearing was still on the panel’s website. The office of subcommittee Chair Mike Rounds, R-S.D., did not immediately return a request for comment.

Haugh’s departure follows the news in late February of Trump’s decision to force out Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a purge that included the removal of the chief of naval operations, the Air Force vice chief of staff and the military branches’ judge advocates general.

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