Trump Admin Delivers Proposal to Split Cyber Command from NSA in Possible Cyberattack Fallout
President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to split apart Cyber Command from the National Security Agency (NSA).
President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to split apart Cyber Command from the National Security Agency (NSA).
A U.S. official has confirmed Saturday that officials delivered the proposal to the Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley at the Pentagon late this week, according to a report by Defense One.
The split will require approval by Milley and the Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller who will also need to ensure the move meets standards set by Congress in 2016.
Miller is expected to support the move, however Milley expressed in 2019 that the current dual-hat leadership structure should be maintained.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith wrote to Milley and Miller on Saturday saying that the “NSA and CYBERCOM are uniquely intertwined and share many of the same resources… Any action to sever the dual-hat relationship could have grave impacts on our national security, especially during a time that the country is wrestling with what may be the most damaging cyber-attack in our country’s history.”
General Paul Nakasone currently fills both positions as NSA director and CYBERCOM commander in a “dual-hat” arrangement.
Both agencies are currently working to mitigate the effects of a global cyberattack that is affecting a myriad of federal agencies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remarked on Friday that the attack can clearly be attributed to Russia while Trump on Saturday implied that it could be China.
The abrupt nature of the request may be a sign that Trump wants to remove Nakasone from his position as part of the fallout stemming from the cyberattack.
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