Army Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, deputy chief of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, is poised to become the next leader of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency after President Donald Trump formally sent his nomination to the Senate.
Trump submitted Rudd's nomination to the Congressional Record on Monday night. The notice stated that it was received by the Senate Armed Services Committee and will be sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee within 30 days.
Although the submission does not specify the position for which Rudd is being nominated, it noted that he would be promoted to general, a requirement for the dual-hat role leading Cyber Command and the NSA, Politico reported Tuesday.
The two posts have traditionally been held by a four-star officer and require Senate confirmation.
Army Lt. Gen. William Hartman has served as acting head of both agencies since April, when Trump fired Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh.
Politico previously reported that Hartman was Trump's initial choice to formally succeed Haugh, but Trump later changed course. Hartman now plans to retire next year or after the Senate confirms a successor.
A person familiar with the process told Politico that Rudd interviewed for the dual roles at the White House last week.
The Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, which oversee Cyber Command and the NSA, respectively, will both review the nomination.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told Politico he "looks forward to reviewing Lt. Gen. Rudd's nomination and evaluating his qualifications to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command at a moment of unprecedented cyber and national security threats."
Spokespersons for the other leaders of the Armed Services and Intelligence panels either declined to comment or did not respond to requests from Politico.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment and referred questions to the White House.
A White House spokesperson said that "no such nomination has been transmitted to the Senate," despite the nomination appearing in the Congressional Record and being listed as received from the president on Monday.
Rudd, who served as chief of staff at Indo-Pacific Command before becoming deputy commander last year, has decades of senior military experience but has not previously held a cyber-focused leadership role.
Last month, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said at the Aspen Cyber Summit that a deep background in cyberwarfare or intelligence is not required for the position.
"Do you have to have specific knowledge of it to come in to manage it and operate it? It helps but it's not necessarily mandatory," said Rounds, chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, according to Recorded Future News.
"These guys that are out there, and they're in the field ... they're using it every day as a user, so they kind of have an understanding of what it is to begin with."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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