The head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command was removed from his job on Thursday, according to the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut condemned the ouster of Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, who led both the spy agency and the military command.
The move caught intelligence officials off guard.
A spokeswoman for Cyber Command said she could not confirm General Haugh’s removal, and referred questions to the Pentagon, which did not respond to a request for comment. A White House spokeswoman did not confirm the ouster.
But a U.S. official briefed on the matter said Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and outside adviser to President Trump, called for General Haugh’s removal during her Oval Office meeting on Thursday. Mr. Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to fire General Haugh, the official said.
Ms. Loomer appeared to take credit for the firing, writing in a post on X after midnight that General Haugh “had no place” serving in the administration because he had been chosen for the job by Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs who has been critical of Mr. Trump.
“Why would we want an NSA Director who was referred to Biden after being hand selected by Milley,” Ms. Loomer wrote. “Why would we want Milley’s hand picked choice for NSA DIRECTOR? We do not! And he was referred for firing.”
General Haugh was also seen by the Trump administration as moving too slowly on its mandate to eliminate diversity programs.
Mr. Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the public was owed an explanation.
“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,” Mr. Himes said.
Three former officials briefed on the matter said General Haugh was informed of the decision while traveling. Current and former officials said General Haugh’s deputy at the National Security Agency, Wendy Noble, was also removed from her post, and potentially reassigned to another position at the Pentagon.
One of the officials said neither General Haugh nor Ms. Noble was told why they were being removed, only that “your services are no longer required.”
In her social media post, Ms. Loomer said Ms. Noble had been referred for her post by James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence in the Obama administration and has been deeply critical of Mr. Trump.
“Why would we want Clapper’s protege at the NSA? Of course Wendy Nobel was referred for firing,” Ms. Loomer wrote, misspelling Ms. Noble’s name. “She is a Trump hater who was nominated by JOE BIDEN.”
Another former official said Lt. Gen. William J. Hartman, the deputy at Cyber Command, would serve as the acting director of the N.S.A.
General Haugh had a cautious public manner, one that ran at odds with the new Pentagon and National Security Council leadership, which has promised aggressive cyberoperations against China.
General Haugh also served as a top deputy at Cyber Command during the Biden administration and was appointed to his two posts in the previous administration. Former officials said that Trump administration officials viewed General Haugh skeptically as a result of his appointment by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump have removed several top officers from their posts, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.; the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti; and the commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Linda L. Fagan.
But the firings are a sharp break with precedent. Military officers endeavor to serve apolitically, and presidents usually keep them in their posts even if they were nominated by their predecessors.
In a statement, Mr. Warner praised General Haugh’s leadership and said his removal would not make the country safer, jabbing at the White House for sharing sensitive material on a consumer messaging application and ousting members of the National Security Council staff at the urging of Ms. Loomer.
Amid such actions, Mr. Warner said, the firing of a “nonpartisan, experienced leader” like General Haugh is “astonishing.”
