{"id":6288,"date":"2026-02-27T19:10:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/sen-wyden-to-block-confirmation-for-nsa-director-citing-lack-of-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T19:10:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:10:32","slug":"sen-wyden-to-block-confirmation-for-nsa-director-citing-lack-of-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/sen-wyden-to-block-confirmation-for-nsa-director-citing-lack-of-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Wyden to block confirmation for NSA director, citing lack of experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is moving to halt Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd\u2019s confirmation to run U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, arguing that the nominee lacks the relevant credentials required for the post.<\/p>\n

Rudd, who serves as deputy commander at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command,\u00a0has not previously held a military cyberintelligence role.<\/p>\n

In a letter lodged in the Congressional Record on Wednesday, Wyden \u2014 a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee \u2014 wrote that Rudd \u201cdoes not have the background that would allow him to immediately step into\u201d the role of leading the foreign eavesdropping agency and digital combatant command.<\/p>\n

Wyden also took issue with Rudd\u2019s responses to questions in his confirmation hearing that involved civil liberties and oversight against unlawful surveillance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis responses\u2026reveal a lack of familiarity with basic constitutional rights that is incompatible with the position for which he has been nominated,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

The NSA uses a slew of legal statutes that allow analysts to access communications of phones, computer networks, and other electronics to gather intelligence. It uses authorities housed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, including a contentious section that Wyden and other privacy advocates have taken issue with.<\/p>\n

Wyden said\u00a0the nation is facing \u201ca dangerous moment\u201d for constitutional rights, particularly given concerns about Fourth Amendment protections related to DHS and ICE activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe potential for abuse is enormous, as we saw when the Agency secretly conducted an illegal\u00a0warrantless surveillance program that it hid not only from the public but from Congress,\u201d the senator wrote, alluding to revelations about NSA surveillance activities made by Edward Snowden about a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Rudd has defended his qualifications, telling\u00a0lawmakers that he has consumed and acted on insights from intelligence gathered by NSA and Cyber Command. Some former officials and China analysts view Rudd\u2019s Indo-Pacific background as relevant to U.S. cyber operations involving Beijing.<\/p>\n

NSA and Cyber Command have been without a permanent leader ever since far-right activist Laura Loomer pushed for the firing of their previous head, Gen. Timothy Haugh, last April.\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n