GOP Rep: Adversaries are "laughing at us" over NSA firings
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Rep. Don Bacon arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) slammed the decision to fire Gen. Timothy Haugh, the National Security Agency director and head of U.S. Cyber Command, without any explanation as "heartbreaking" Sunday.
The big picture: Haugh, along with his civilian deputy Wendy Noble, was fired Thursday, the same day that several members of President Trump's embattled National Security Council were ousted.
- Their firings followed conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer's Oval Office visit, where she pressed Trump to fire specific NSC staffers, Axios previously reported.
- Trump denied to reporters on Air Force One Thursday that Loomer had anything to do with the firings but said "she makes recommendations ... and sometimes I listen to those recommendations."
- Loomer on Friday wrote that Haugh and Noble had "been disloyal to President Trump" and "[t]hat is why they have been fired."
Driving the news: The decision to boot Haugh "puts us back," Bacon, a member of the Armed Services Committee and a former Air Force brigadier general, said on CBS News' "Face the Nation." "It hurts us."
- He continued, "Russia and China are laughing at us today because we just fired the absolute best leaders."
What's next: Asked if there would be hearings on reporting that the firings came after Loomer, a far-right activist who has frequented Mar-a-Lago, met with Trump, Bacon said he's sure there will be "some oversight."
- As the chairman of the Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Subcommittee, Bacon said he would "guarantee" the panel would have questions for military leaders and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- He predicted administration officials would defend the decision as "the president's right." But he added, "He may have the constitutional authority to do it, but it doesn't make it right."
- Bacon continued, "We have an opportunity to probe into this and ask why. And I have a responsibility to make clear this was wrong ... it hurt our country."
Between the lines: Bacon has broken with the administration and party members on several recent policy debates, including on its approach to Russia, sweeping tariffs and the proposed impeachment of federal judges.
- Loomer's presence in Trump's circle has led GOP lawmakers, even close Trump allies, to sound alarms in the past. That friction was present during the 2024 campaign after she shared a racist post about former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Go deeper: MAGA media tiptoes around Loomer-Trump meeting and NSC firings
