• National Security Agency confronts seven-month leadership vacuum with furloughs and program cuts threatening long-term cyber capabilities.
• White House backs down on nominating acting director Lt. Gen. William Hartman after he fails to impress Pentagon leaders.
• Former officials warn internal strain risks eroding morale among analysts at Defense Department’s intelligence giant.

FORT MEADE, Md. (TDR) — The National Security Agency is confronting a wave of internal strain, including leadership gaps, program cuts and deferred resignation offers, on top of the ongoing government shutdown that’s left parts of its workforce furloughed.

Renowned for tracking targets across the world’s internet backbone, the Defense Department’s intelligence giant now faces conditions that risk eroding morale among analysts and weakening the agency’s long-term cyber capabilities, former U.S. national security officials and others with knowledge of ongoing changes inside the agency told Nextgov/FCW.

A major leadership gap has been in place for seven months. The White House recently backed down on its plans to nominate Lt. Gen. William Hartman to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The reversal was first reported by The Record, the news unit of cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. A search to find candidates for various leadership positions at the agency continues, The Record reported last week.

Seven-month vacuum creates operational uncertainty

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Hartman, who has been leading both entities in an acting capacity since April, was recently informed of the decision and submitted his retirement paperwork, according to individuals granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The choice was made, in part, after Hartman failed to impress key Defense Department leaders despite having the backing of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Hartman took the reins after President Donald Trump fired Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh from the role in April, along with Haugh’s top NSA deputy. Far-right activist Laura Loomer later claimed credit for Haugh’s dismissal.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee in charge of cyber oversight, called the situation “heartbreaking” and “indefensible” in a recent interview. “This is seven months. It shows just a total disregard by the administration and the secretary of defense for this mission area,” Bacon said.

Shutdown compounds internal challenges

Amid the government shutdown, several agency staff deemed non-essential have been furloughed. One person with knowledge of ongoing NSA work said the agency’s short-term capabilities haven’t faced much impact, though long-term planning is degrading significantly, putting many analysts into a “reactive mode.”

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The NSA possesses a suite of pristine hacking tools and is constantly storing or developing new exploits to breach targets’ systems. As the shutdown persists, routine spying activities conducted by NSA and other DOD elements are continuing, but some forward-looking planning has been halted, according to a public Pentagon document that dictates shutdown plans.

Paused longer-term activities include political and economic analysis work unrelated to current crises and intelligence support for weapons acquisition, though it’s not clear how much of that work directly falls on NSA analysts’ desks.

Workforce reductions threaten talent pipeline

The signals intelligence giant has halted recruitment for its Legal Honors Program, two people familiar with the situation said, slowing inflow of top legal talent. The NSA’s top lawyer, April Falcon Doss, was also let go on the advice of Loomer, and other leading officials have chosen to leave the agency and the combatant command.

The agency is also working to eliminate approximately 2,000 civilian positions, complicating its ability to harness necessary talent for mission-critical operations. One person, recounting a recent retirement event for a senior officer who left NSA, put it bluntly: “They’re struggling to find work, and it was very depressing to be there.”

A diminished workforce creates a perilous trickle-down effect on other units of the U.S. military. The dual-hatted nature of NSA and Cyber Command means civilian analysts are constantly developing hacking toolkits and other capabilities alongside DOD cyber warriors.

Deployed teams may lack critical support

If Pentagon cyber operatives are deployed overseas and face any technical difficulties, they could have trouble remediating them. That concern especially applies to hunt forward operations, where U.S. cyber warriors from the Cyber National Mission Force physically deploy to allied host nations to observe and detect malicious cyber activity on their networks.

“We very likely have teams that are deployed right now. Those hunt forward teams are reliant on supporting elements from their home service right now,” a former intelligence official said. The risk of leaving the position unfilled means there is no one to set priorities, ensure compliance with administration priorities, authorize operations and aggressively go after threats.

Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the CSIS Defense and Security Department, noted that Cyber Command was created to increase focus on the domain. Lacking a four-star commander reduces cyber’s influence in decision-making at the top level, he said, adding there is risk of organizational inertia with acting commanders reluctant to launch major initiatives.

The NSA and Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the leadership crisis and its impact on operations.

Does the seven-month leadership vacuum at NSA demonstrate dangerous neglect of national security, or is the administration simply being thorough in finding the right candidate?

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