National Security Agency directors and second officials were expelled from their positions Thursday, according to NBC News.
It was not immediately clear why Air Force General Timothy Howe and his deputy were rejected, sources said.
The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
Haugh was the head of the US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, which he had served since February 2024. Wendy Noble, the deputy director of the NSA, was a senior civilian leader at the agency.
Both are career officials. With a degree in Russia, he has been in the Air Force for over 30 years, mainly in intelligence and cyber work.
Congressional Democrats have denounced the Trump administration over shootings.
“I know that General Hauf is an honest and outspoken leader who follows the law and puts national security first. I fear that these could lead to his firing in this administration,” Rep. Jim Himez, a top Democrat on the House Intelligence Election Committee, said in a statement.
“The Intelligence Report Committee and the American people need an immediate explanation of this decision, which will reduce safety for us all,” he added.
Sen. Mark Warner, a ranking Democrat for the Senate Intelligence Email Committee, called Haugh’s removal “surprising.”
“As the US faces an unprecedented cyber threat, does firing him make Americans safer, as the salt typhoon cyberattack from China emphasizes so clearly?” Warner said in a statement.
Larry Pfeiffer, a former Intelligence Bureau employee, called the fire “unprecedented.”
“We need to worry when America wants to control the people who have the most powerful eavesdropping capabilities in the world,” he said.
He said that past presidents have postponed the advice of the Secretary of Defense and the CIA Director on appointments to lead the NSA.
Last month, Trump adviser Elon Musk visited the National Security Agency headquarters to meet with Howe.
The visit comes a week after Musk said on social media platform X that “the NSA needs an overhaul.”
Earlier on Thursday, NBC News reported that Trump fired at least three National Security Council officials this week, expressing his dissatisfaction with some officials on his national security team after far-right activist Laura Rumer met with him.
Phil Helsel contributed.
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