US media reported that the head of the secretive US intelligence body the National Security Agency (NSA) was fired on Thursday.
The Washington Post cited US officials who said General Timothy Haugh was fired after over a year in the job.
The officials did not give a reason for Haugh’s removal, The Post added.
Haugh was also the head of the US Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s cyber warfare organization that conducts both offensive and defensive cyber operations.
His NSA deputy, Wendy Noble, was also sacked and reassigned to another position at the Pentagon, according to The Post.
The National Security Agency (NSA) is the United States government’s largest and most clandestine signal intelligence agency.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Haugh, who was appointed in February 2024, has previously held a number of prominent government cybersecurity positions, including commander of the special Cyber National Mission Force.
Democratic Congressman Jim Himes said he was “deeply disturbed” by Haugh’s dismissal.
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and deployed national security forces,” he said in a statement published on X.
“I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration.”
Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has overseen a significant overhaul of the military forces’ leadership structure.
Trump ousted top US military officer General Charles “CQ” Brown in February, with no explanation for his dismissal less than two years into his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Just months into his second term, his administration has overseen massive layoffs of federal employees and steps to demolish government institutions.
The Post said that US Cyber Command’s Deputy Commander William J Hartman and NSA executive director Sheila Thomas have been named acting NSA chief and deputy, respectively.
