New US Cyber Command, NSA chief glides in first public appearance

U.S. senators on Wednesday took a light touch with the acting head of U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed bewilderment over the firing of his predecessor less than a week ago.

In the first public appearance by a senior leader from either organization since the dismissal of Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh and his NSA deputy, Army Lt. Gen. William Hartman faced largely boilerplate questions during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services cyber subcommittee.

Panel members used the opportunity to comment on the unexpected ousting.

“Men and women capable of leading the National Security Agency and the United States Cyber Command are in short supply. Such leaders require years of experience to develop with deliberate and dedicated career focus,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), the panel’s chair and longtime leader on digital issues, said in his opening statement. 

“To put it more directly, we do not have enough of these types of leaders, and a loss of any one of them, without strong justification, is disappointing.”

Sen. Jack Reed (RI), the top Democrat on the full Armed Services committee, said Haugh’s “sudden and inexplicable firing is disrespectful to his service, but also disrespectful to every military member in or out of uniform, and an indication that their service and sacrifice is in no way respected by this administration.”

After that, the sparsely attended session, which lasted less than 50 minutes, settled on topics like the status of Cyber Command’s modernization effort, dubbed “CYBERCOM 2.0,” authorities and other workforce issues.

Rounds asked Hartman for his views on the “dual hat” leadership arrangement that has long governed the command and the electronic spy agency. Since Haugh’s dismissal, current and former officials as well as lawmakers fear President Donald Trump will act on a longheld desire to sever the relationship — a move Senate Democrats warned against this week.

“The dual hat allows me, in my current capacity, to move with the speed and agility and unity of effort that is required,” Hartman said. “It also forces leaders across the organization to collaborate, to do the hard work and to provide the best options for the national security of the country.”

The three-star vowed that the command is focused on deterring malicious activity from foreign adversaries, especially China.

“I am aware of Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon, and while we're certainly concerned about that, we will certainly develop a broad range of options to deal with that,” he said, referring to Beijing-linked hacking groups that have been at the center of high-profile cyberattacks targeting telecommunications companies and other critical infrastructure. 

Observers say it is too early to know if Trump will formally nominate Hartman to replace Haugh, promote another military officer to helm the organizations or split the dual hat and seek to appoint loyalists atop Cyber Command and the NSA.