Trump Fires NSA Director Timothy Haugh After NSC Shake-Up Tied To Laura Loomer

The Trump administration has dismissed U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) director Timothy Haugh and deputy director Wendy Noble, as confirmed late Thursday by members in the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, along with a source familiar with the matter.

Democrats Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, confirmed the removal of the two officials, CNN reported.

Both Haugh and Noble, who also held prominent roles in U.S. Cyber Command, were dismissed from their positions at the NSA.

William Hartmann, the deputy of U.S. Cyber Command, was appointed as the acting director of the NSA, while, Sheila Thomas, the former executive director of the NSA, was named acting deputy.

The dismissal of Haugh and Noble follows the firing of several National Security Council (NSC) staff members, which came after a Wednesday meeting where far-right activist Laura Loomer urged President Donald Trump to remove individuals she accused of disloyalty.

Loomer presented opposition research against a number of staffers that she said showed they were disloyal to the US president, according to two people familiar with the matter, Guardian reported.

The firings encompassed four staffers who were fired overnight, after the meeting, and two who were removed over the weekend.

However, it remains unclear whether the firings of the NSA officials are connected to the dismissals within the NSC.

Noble, who had served as the deputy director of the NSA, was reassigned to a new role within the Pentagon's office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Haugh was not part of the controversial Signal group chat, where top officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed a sensitive military operation targeting the Houthis in Yemen.

However, during a House Intelligence Committee hearing last week, Haugh testified about the risks of using Signal for such discussions, as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were questioned about the incident.

The reasons behind the dismissal of Haugh and Noble remain unclear, and no official statement has been made about their removal.

"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?" Warner said referring to China-linked hack of U.S. telecom companies, last year.

Himes stated he was "deeply disturbed" by the decision.

Renée Burton, a cybersecurity expert with over two decades of experience at the NSA, described the dismissals "alarming."

"NSA mission is vast and extremely complicated," Burton told CNN. "General Haugh and Ms. Noble have built the expertise and credibility it takes to oversee such a vital part of our national security. Replacing them will not be easy and the disruption will expose the country to new risk."

Background On Haugh

Haugh had been the NSA director for just over a year, having been nominated by former President Joe Biden in May 2023. His confirmation process was delayed until December 2023 due to a hold on military nominations by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who was protesting a Pentagon policy on reimbursing travel expenses for service members seeking reproductive health care, reported CBS News.

A month prior, Haugh hosted Elon Musk, the billionaire overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, at the NSA and Cyber Command headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland.

NSA's Critical Role

The NSA is one of the U.S. government's most vital intelligence agencies, with its codebreakers and operatives conducting global operations to provide critical insights to the president and his advisers. U.S. Cyber Command was created over a decade ago to address growing foreign cyber threats and monitors the Department of Defense's networks.

In February, President Trump had dismissed the top U.S. general, shortly before Hegseth fired the chief of the U.S. Navy and the vice chief of the Air Force.

Some current and former defense officials have expressed concerns about a growing culture of fear within the ranks of the U.S. Department of Defense. Officials are reportedly worried that they could be dismissed at any moment for actions perceived as disloyal to President Trump.

Originally published on IBTimes