The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Trump’s pick to head the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.
The voice vote means that Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, who had led the Army’s cyber operations, will now take over the country’s leading intelligence and cybersecurity agencies from Adm. Mike Rogers, who held the dual-hatted post for four years and is retiring.
Nakasone cruised through two Senate committee confirmation hearings and enjoys wide bipartisan support at a time when numerous Trump nominees have hit roadblocks of opposition in the chamber.
[Also read: Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone expected to be Trump’s pick to lead NSA: Report]
The general honed his cyber warfighting skills as commander of Joint Task Force Ares, a special cell formed in 2016 to disrupt the Islamic State, and comes to the new jobs as the country faces a plethora of new security threats.
Russia and China as well as other adversaries are waging cyberattacks because they do not fear retaliation from the U.S., Nakasone said during his March confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Basically, I would say right now they do not think that much will happen to them,” Nakasone said. “They don’t fear us. It is not good, senator.”
He suggested the creation of a new cyber doctrine on how to handle such attacks.
