The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday that he will block the administration from dividing leadership of the National Security Administration and U.S. Cyber Command between two people.
Right now, one person serves as the head of both the NSA and Cyber Command. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he is “troubled” by reports that President Obama is trying to separate that into two roles and will do what he can to prevent the change.
“I do not believe rushing to separate the dual hat in the final months of an administration is appropriate given the very serious challenges we face in cyberspace and the failure of this admin to develop an effective deterrence policy,” McCain said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, which included current NSA and Cyber Command head Adm. Mike Rogers. “Therefore if a decision is prematurely made to separate NSA and Cyber Command, I will object to the confirmation of any individual nominated by the president to replace the director of the National Security Administration if that person is not also nominated to be the commander of Cyber Command.”
McCain listed the cybersecurity challenges facing the U.S., including from China and Russia, and said the administration has “distracted itself” from these serious threats with conversations about the structure of Cyber Command and, as a result, has “left the U.S. vulnerable.”
He also slammed the administration for telling the press before telling lawmakers.
“Here we go again. Another major policy matter has apparently been decided with no consultation whatsoever between the White House or Department of Defense with this committee,” he said.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also asked witnesses at the hearing to weigh in on the proposed split, as well as whether the director of the NSA should be a civilian instead of a military officer.
“While I know that it is likely difficult for our witnesses to discuss administration deliberations in an open hearing, I would welcome any general thoughts or considerations you could offer on these important issues,” Reed said.
Asked by McCain if maintaining the dual hat is in the best national security interest of the country, Rogers said “yes.”
