Donald Trump reportedly fires National Security Agency director
Good morning, and welcome to our US politics blog.
Donald Trump fired Gen Tim Haugh, the director of the US National Security Agency (NSA) on Thursday, according to the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees.
The Washington Post reported yesterday evening that Haugh and his civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, had been dismissed from their roles. Haugh also headed US Cyber Command, which coordinates the Pentagon’s cybersecurity operations.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he had fired “some” White House national security council officials, a move that came a day after far-right activist and social media personality Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.
Loomer, during her Oval Office conversation with the president, urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, according to several people familiar with the matter.
The move, which reportedly caught intelligence officials by surprise, has prompted an angry backlash from congressional Democrats.
Senator Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said in a statement: “General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years. At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyber threats … how does firing him make Americans any safer?”
Representative Jim Himes, the ranking member on the House intelligence committee, said he was “deeply disturbed by the decision”.
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first – I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this administration,” Himes added. “The intelligence committee and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”
The Trump team viewed Gen Haugh skeptically in part because he served as a top deputy at the cyber command under the Democratic president Joe Biden. We will have more on this story and other political news shortly.
Key events
Senators unveil bill to claw back power over tariffs amid Trump trade wars
Lauren Gambino
Senior senators introduced new bipartisan legislation on Thursday seeking to claw back some of Congress’s power over tariffs after Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new import taxes and rattled the global economy with sweeping new import taxes.
The Trade Review Act of 2025, co-sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley, a top Republican lawmaker from Iowa, a state heavily reliant on farm exports, and Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, whose state shares a border with Canada, would require the president to notify Congress of new tariffs, and provide a justification for the action and an analysis on the potential impact on US businesses and consumers.
For the tariff to remain in effect, Congress would need to approve a joint resolution within 60 days. If Congress failed to give its consent within that timeframe, all new tariffs on imports would expire.
The legislation would also allow Congress to terminate tariffs at any time through a resolution of disapproval.
You can read the full story here:
Trump administration sued over Chinese import tariffs
Sweeping new tariffs announced by Donald Trump on Wednesday risked sparking a global trade war and have provoked widespread dismay and threats of countermeasures from countries around the world. Traders are warning about a US or even global recession, as stock markets continue to be hit by a brutal sell-off by investors.
Chinese goods, already subject to a 20% levy, received an additional 34% tariff, taking the total tariff to 54%. The additional levy takes effect on 9 April. China’s commerce ministry called the move “a typical act of unilateral bullying” and vowed to take “resolute countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests”.
New Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group, on Thursday filed what it said was the first lawsuit seeking to block Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the sweeping 2 April tariffs as well as duties authorised on 1 February under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In a statement, NCLA senior litigation counsel Andrew Morris said:
By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers.
The lawsuit asks a judge to block implementation and enforcement of the tariffs and undo Trump’s changes to the US tariff schedule, according to Reuters.
My colleagues Hugo Lowell and Joseph Gedeon have more in this story on the surprise firing of Gen Tim Haugh, who had been the director of the National Security Agency for just over a year, having been nominated by former president Joe Biden in May 2023. His removal was revealed by Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking member of the House intelligence committee, and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee.
The firings come as Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz continues to fight calls for his ouster after using the publicly available encrypted Signal app to discuss planning for the sensitive 15 March military operation targeting Houthi militants in Yemen.
Warner said on Thursday night, “It is astonishing, too, that President Trump would fire the nonpartisan, experienced leader of the National Security Agency while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on a commercial messaging app – even as he apparently takes staffing direction on national security from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office.”
Haugh met last month with Elon Musk, whose “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, has roiled the federal government by slashing personnel and budgets at dozens of agencies. In a statement, the NSA said the meeting was intended to ensure both organizations were “aligned” with the new administration’s priorities.
Donald Trump reportedly fires National Security Agency director
Good morning, and welcome to our US politics blog.
Donald Trump fired Gen Tim Haugh, the director of the US National Security Agency (NSA) on Thursday, according to the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees.
The Washington Post reported yesterday evening that Haugh and his civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, had been dismissed from their roles. Haugh also headed US Cyber Command, which coordinates the Pentagon’s cybersecurity operations.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he had fired “some” White House national security council officials, a move that came a day after far-right activist and social media personality Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.
Loomer, during her Oval Office conversation with the president, urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, according to several people familiar with the matter.
The move, which reportedly caught intelligence officials by surprise, has prompted an angry backlash from congressional Democrats.
Senator Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said in a statement: “General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years. At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyber threats … how does firing him make Americans any safer?”
Representative Jim Himes, the ranking member on the House intelligence committee, said he was “deeply disturbed by the decision”.
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first – I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this administration,” Himes added. “The intelligence committee and the American people need an immediate explanation for this decision, which makes all of us less safe.”
The Trump team viewed Gen Haugh skeptically in part because he served as a top deputy at the cyber command under the Democratic president Joe Biden. We will have more on this story and other political news shortly.
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