How firing the NSA leader could lead to Cyber Command's split
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The surprise firing of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command's top leader last week may open the door for the Trump administration to split up the two agencies' long-shared leadership structure.
Why it matters: Detaching the military command could unleash its operatives for more offensive cyber strikes against foreign adversaries — and also risk crippling the country's own espionage efforts.
Driving the news: Gen. Timothy Haugh, who led the NSA and Cyber Command for a little over a year, was fired Thursday night with zero explanation — spurring outrage from lawmakers in both parties.
- The head of NSA and Cyber Command isn't a typical political appointee, and it's normal to see the same person lead these offices across several administrations.
- Haugh took over after Gen. Paul Nakasone retired following six years in the position.
The big picture: The NSA and Cyber Command have shared a director since the command was established in 2010.
- While the NSA is known for its spying and surveillance operations, the Cyber Command is a military unit that carries out a mix of offensive and defensive cyber operations.
- The two units typically need the same intelligence for their operations, and sharing leadership can help them figure out how best to weaponize that information.
Between the lines: Experts say Haugh's firing will make it easier to split up the dual-hat structure and de-shackle Cyber Command from the country's intelligence-gathering operations.
- Proponents of the split argue that Cyber Command has become too big on its own to have to share a leader with a similarly large organization.
- Some also argue that Cyber Command isn't able to carry out as many offensive strikes over fears that doing so will burn whatever covert operations the NSA is carrying out on adversarial networks.
- "NSA intelligence operations tend to be quiet, we don't want to get caught," Jason Healey, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, told Axios. "Whereas in a military operation, the spirit of the bayonet is to kill, it's to get involved with the adversaries."
Zoom out: Offensive cyber strikes are a major priority for the second Trump administration.
- National security adviser Mike Waltz has advocated for the U.S. to "start going on offense" in cyberspace — and so has the Pentagon's acting chief information officer.
- Advisers to the Trump transition team were already working on a proposal for splitting up the dual-hat structure in December, according to The Record.
Yes, but: Divorcing the two offices could be "disastrous" because of the heavy intelligence-sharing relationship, Jake Williams, a former NSA hacker and faculty member at IANS Research, told Axios.
- "It's something that will get reversed, but probably only after an intelligence failure," Williams said.
What to watch: Splitting up the dual hat would require lawmakers' buy-in.
- In a letter to President Trump on Monday, several Democratic senators warned that "premature termination of the dual-hat arrangement would severely degrade the speed and effectiveness" of NSA and Cyber Command and could "have dire consequence for our national security."
- Lt. Gen. William Hartman, the new acting head of Cyber Command, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow about the command's future.
Go deeper: MAGA media tiptoes around Loomer-Trump meeting and NSC firings
