GOP lawmaker criticizes Trump's ouster of NSA chief

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) criticized President Trump’s ouster of the director of the National Security Agency, arguing that Gen. Timothy Haugh’s firing will hinder the country’s Cyber and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) operations. 

“General Tim Haugh is an outstanding leader and was doing a superb job at Cyber Command and National Security Agency," Bacon said in a Friday morning post on social media platform X. “He was fired with no public explanation. This action sets back our Cyber and Signals Intelligence operations.” 

NSA chief Haugh, along with his civilian deputy Wendy Noble, were ousted late Thursday, not too long after the administration fired several top White House National Security Council (NSA) staffers earlier in the day. 

Haugh, who has over three decades of experience in the Air Force, also led the U.S. Cyber Command. His termination drew rebukes from Democrats in Congress. 

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote that he was “deeply disturbed” by Haugh’s firing. 

“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,” Himes said, adding that the House Intelligence panel and the public “need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”

The firing of a group of NSC staffers came after Trump met with far-right activist Laura Loomer at the White House on Wednesday. Loomer said the NSC workers were not aligned with Trump’s agenda. 

She also criticized Haugh, writing Friday on X that the general “had no place serving in the Trump admin given the fact that he was HAND PICKED by General Milley, who was accused of committing treason by President Trump.” 

In his criticism of Haugh’s firing, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, referenced the Signal chat leak incident, arguing the president has not held anyone accountable for it. 

“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,” Warned said in post on X, referring to Loomer.