National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh and civilian Deputy Director Wendy Noble were fired, according to a senior defense official.
Fox News reported it remains unclear why the pair was fired. The news broke on The Washington Post.
Haugh was also fired as commander of the U.S. Cyber Command.
Noble, on the other hand, was reassigned to the office of the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, per the Post.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a member of the House intelligence committee, said late Thursday he is “deeply disturbed” by Haugh’s dismissal.
“I have known General 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 lead to his firing in this Administration,” he said in a statement.
He added he requested an “immediate explanation.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Haugh’s firing was “astonishing.”
“General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years. 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.
