Before he assumed the top roles at NSA and Cybercom, he served for two years as Deputy Commander of US Cyber Command. During that time, he ran Cyber Command’s half of the “Russia Small Group,” a joint effort with the NSA to defend the 2018 midterm elections from Russian interference. Anne Neuberger, who later served in the Biden administration as a deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, ran the NSA’s half of that group.
Democratic lawmakers quickly condemned Haugh’s firing. Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said, “At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyberthreats, as the Salt Typhoon cyberattack from China has so clearly underscored, how does firing him make Americans any safer?”
Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee Jim Himes said, “I am deeply disturbed by the decision to remove General Haugh as Director of the National Security Agency. I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first — I fear that those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration. The Intelligence Community and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”