WASHINGTON – The Trump administration ousted the director of the National Security Agency Thursday night, according to top congressional Democrats who decried the firing as making the U.S. less safe from cyber intelligence espionage activities by China and other U.S. adversaries.
Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was chief of U.S. Cyber Command in addition to leading the NSA, was unavailable for comment. The White House and the NSA did not return requests seeking comment.
Haugh, a career Air Force leader, was deputy commander of U.S. Cyber Command at Fort George G. Meade, Md., until President Joe Biden tapped him to lead the NSA in Feb. 2024. He was one of the few holdovers from the Biden administration at a time when President Donald Trump has moved quickly to replace his intelligence agency leadership with political hires he believes will be loyal to him.