National Security Agency, Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh and Deputy Civilian Director Wendy Noble
Haugh's removal as director of the NSA, the nation's primary cyber espionage and electronic eavesdropping agency, comes on the same day at least three White House National Security Council staffers reportedly also were shown the door.
The ousted NSA director's civilian deputy, Wendy Noble, was also let go Thursday, according to the Washington Post, citing current and former US officials.
Noble was reassigned to a role within the Pentagon's Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, according to the outlet.
The reason behind the NSA shakeup is unknown, the US officials told the outlet.
Haugh, who also serves as the Pentagon's Cyber Command chief, had led the NSA since February 2024.
It's unclear if the Air Force general will remain at his Cyber Command post following his removal from the Fort Meade, Md.-based spy agency.
Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk was hosted by Haugh at NSA headquarters just last month, his first known visit to a US intelligence agency.
The ousted NSA director's civilian deputy, Wendy Noble, was also let go Thursday. National Security Agency
Lt. Gen. William J. Hartmann, Haugh's deputy at Cyber Command, will take over as acting director of the NSA, according to the Washington Post.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, slammed Haugh's dismissal.
"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 wrote on X.
The senator also took aim at President Trump — referencing reports that the firings of National Security Council staffers came shortly after he took a meeting with right-wing influencer Laura Loomer.
"It is astonishing that President Trump would fire the nonpartisan, experienced leader of the NSA while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on a commercial messaging app — even as he apparently takes staffing direction on national security from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office," Warner wrote in a separate post.
Comment: Loomer hits back:
Full text:
Today, Democrat Senator Mark Warner @MarkWarner, the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, recorded and posted this video of himself attacking me as a "9/11 conspiracy theorist" and a "right wing lunatic" because of my vetting and oppo research on NSC and NSA officials that was presented to President Trump, resulting in their mass firings.
If anti-Trump and pro-impeachment Democrats are angry about the firings of TRUMP ADMIN OFFICIALS IN THE NSC AND NSA, and they are angry about @POTUS meeting with me in the Oval Office, that's how you know I did the right thing and that these people needed to be fired, as I said.
Why would rabid Trump haters in Congress be defending these NSC and NSA officials if they are truly loyal to President Trump?
US Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) voted to convict and impeach President Donald Trump. He said Trump was a "threat to Democracy" and a criminal after J6.
The NSC and NSA officials I exposed all agree with Mark Warner. That's why he's defending them.
All of the Democrat and Deep State moles are getting rooted out, and the Democrats on the Senate Intel Committee are CRYING because they were hoping to weaponize the intel agencies against President Trump again, just like they did during his first term to spy on him and stage a coup against him.
I'm stopping these traitors before they can STRIKE, and they are livid.
Vetting matters, @MikeWaltz47!
It should be a wake up call to Mike Waltz that the TRUMP HATING, DEMOCRAT VICE CHAIR OF THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE is crying over the report I gave President Trump in the Oval Office.
Waltz said he vetted all of these people himself. If he vetted them, how come he didn't ask them about their hatred of President Trump?
Clearly, the National Security Director and I have different standards and definitions of VETTING.
As I said before, THERE IS A VETTING CRISIS IN THE WHITE HOUSE. And this vetting crisis endangers President Trump.
I am fighting to PROTECT President Trump.
Trump acknowledged his meeting with Loomer on Thursday but denied that his conversation with her prompted the National Security Council firings.
When reached for comment, the NSA referred The Post to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond to a message.
The White House also did not respond to a request for comment on Haugh's firing.
Comment: Lara Loomer's investigative reporting has been crucial in alerting the White House to the problematic connection of those let go from the NSA. She's doing the vetting work that the Trump admin staffers are failing to do: