US Cyber Command Names New Leader Amid Reported National Security Shake-Up

Reports emerged on April 3 that Gen. Timothy Haugh had been relieved of his dual-hat role at the head of the U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA.

A sign for the National Security Agency (NSA), U.S. Cyber Command, and Central Security Service, near the visitor's entrance to the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., on Feb. 14, 2018. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William Hartman has taken control at the U.S. Cyber Command, amid reports of a leadership shake-up.

In a statement shared with The Epoch Times on April 4, a Cyber Command spokesperson said Hartman had assumed the leadership responsibilities at the command.

“Hartman brings extensive military experience and a strong commitment to mission execution in support of strengthening our national security,” the spokesperson wrote. “Under his leadership, U.S. Cyber Command remains ready to execute cyber operations in accordance with the President and Secretary of Defense’s priorities.”

The Cyber Command spokesperson offered that emailed statement after The Epoch Times reached out seeking confirmation of reports that Gen. Timothy Haugh had been relieved from the leadership role.

Haugh had simultaneously served as the head of Cyber Command and as the director of the National Security Agency—both headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland—since February 2024.

The Epoch Times first reached out to the NSA to confirm Haugh’s firing. A spokesperson for the agency deferred the question to the Pentagon, which declined to provide further details.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, responded to Haugh’s reported firing in an April 3 statement on social media platform X.

“It is astonishing that President [Donald] Trump would fire the nonpartisan, experienced leader of the NSA,” Warner wrote.

Warner also criticized the administration for the recent episode in which a journalist was looped into a text chat among high-level officials discussing plans for military strikes against terrorists in Yemen.

Several National Security Council staffers have also been fired or reassigned in recent days.

Trump responded to questions about the shake-up while traveling aboard Air Force One on April 3.

“[We] always will let go people that we don’t like, or people that we don’t think do the job, or people that may have loyalties to somebody else,” the president told reporters.

When asked if independent journalist and activist Laura Loomer had played a role in the recent firing of any National Security Council staffers, the president said, “No, not at all.” Loomer met with Trump at the White House on April 2.

Trump said Loomer “makes recommendations of things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations.”

In a Friday X post, Loomer accused Haugh and NSA Deputy Director Wendy Noble of not being loyal to the president.

“That is why they have been fired,” she wrote.

The NSA didn’t immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comments on Loomer’s post regarding Haugh and Noble’s terminations.