President Donald Trump nominated an Army general with a special operations background to lead the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, according to the Pentagon, following the tumultuous ouster of two top officials from the entities in April.
Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, who currently serves as the deputy commander for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee for nomination to an unspecified position on Monday, according to a congressional notification. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth officially announced that Rudd had been tapped to head Cybercom and the NSA.
A White House official denied to DefenseScoop on Tuesday that any “such nomination has been transmitted to the Senate,” despite the posting to Congress.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock was also nominated to serve as Rudd’s deputy commander at Cybercom, the Pentagon also announced Thursday. She has been the commander of the Cyber National Mission Force since 2024 and has been deeply involved in combatting cyber threats from alleged state-sponsored hacking groups operating out of China in that role.
If confirmed, Rudd would take over dual-hat leadership for both NSA and Cybercom — two powerful agencies charged with collecting intelligence and protecting American cyber interests from a barrage of digital threats in recent years — amid a broader fight over whether to split the agencies.
Rudd started his career as a quartermaster officer in 1993 before transitioning to special forces, according to his public biography, which does not list any cyber experiences. It briefly notes he commanded at “every echelon from Operational Detachment Alpha to Group” before listing specific leadership roles beginning in 2015.
The Washington Post reported he was a member of the Army’s secretive Delta Force.
“I look forward to reviewing Lt. Gen. Rudd’s nomination and evaluating his qualifications to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command at a moment of unprecedented cyber and national security threats,” Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee told DefenseScoop in a statement on Wednesday.
“That said, it should never have taken this long to nominate someone to this critical post,” he said. “At a time when China, Russia, Iran, and criminal actors are constantly probing our defenses, this kind of chaos and vacancy at the top makes America less safe.”
In 2022, Rudd relinquished command of U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific, or SOCPAC, where he oversaw all special operations missions across the Indo-Pacific. He has served as deputy commander for Indo-Pacom for a little over a year.
In April, the Trump administration fired Rudd’s possible predecessor, Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh and his NSA deputy director Wendy Noble without explanation after several media outlets reported that a far-right conspiracy theorist convinced the president to oust them over claims of disloyalty.
“The administration has left the NSA without a confirmed director or deputy director since April, after abruptly firing the previous leadership without explanation, at the apparent direction of conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer,” Warner said.
In an interview with 60-minutes this fall, Haugh said he was “absolutely not” disloyal in response to those claims alleged by Loomer.
“I know in my heart that every day I wanted to achieve the things for our nation that would make us more secure and make every American safe, and that continued to my last day of service,” he said.
The Trump administration never explained Haugh’s firing — who was well-respected on Capitol Hill and within the cyber community — and his abrupt ouster caused uncertainty for current and former cybersecurity personnel about the future of U.S. cyber efforts, Military.com reported.
Army Lt. Gen. William Hartman has been serving as acting director of Cybercom and NSA since Haugh’s firing.
