In a confirmation hearing with lawmakers on Thursday, President Donald Trump’s nominee for top uniformed cyber chief said he would evaluate the efficiency of the dual-hat leadership role between U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency if he’s confirmed to the job, touching on one of the community’s most heated policy debates.
Army Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, who is currently the deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific, was asked by multiple Senate Armed Services Committee members about the two organizations he may inherit, and what he thought about their current leadership structure.
Rudd said that throughout his career — which is largely based in special operations — he’s seen a “demonstration of effectiveness, as well as efficiency” under the dual-hat role held by the Cybercom commander and NSA director.
He added that “the ability for that individual to continue to harness and integrate the incredible capabilities of both those organizations I think is a component that enables” both agencies “to provide great support to our warfighters.”
However, he left the door open for change.
“If I’m confirmed for this, I think my role is to be objective about that as that comes up, or if it continues to come up as a topic,” Rudd said.
In another response, he said that he would “assess continuously if that is the most effective way to lead those two organizations.”
Cybercom, which became fully operational as a combatant command in 2010, has been physically located alongside the NSA at Fort Meade, Maryland. The two organizations have also shared a leader.
Last April, Trump axed Gen. Timothy Haugh as Cybercom commander and NSA director, reportedly at the behest of a far-right conspiracy theorist over disloyalty claims.
In contrast to Rudd, the current acting head of both organizations, Lt. Gen. William Hartman, took a more forceful stance in defending the dual-hat position he inherited following the ouster during a congressional hearing last year.
When Cybercom was just getting off the ground, it leaned on the NSA for personnel and infrastructure with the expectation that the structure would be temporary. Since then, one leader has remained in charge of both organizations.
The NSA is a powerful cyberespionage organization and Cybercom has grown in size and authority since its inception, becoming increasingly involved in military operations such as the mission to capture Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
Critics of the dual-hat role contend that the two organizations are too powerful for one person to oversee and that overt military operations could clash with the clandestine nature of the NSA. Others — including both Republican and Democratic lawmakers — have said the dual-hat nature is essential for quick and precise cyber ops.
During Trump’s first term, administration officials reportedly drew up a plan to split the leadership role, which was met with an immediate and forceful rebuke from some members of Congress. In 2024, The Record reported that transition advisors for then President-elect Trump were making plans to split the role.
Rudd also addressed the dual-hate role in written responses to senators’ advance policy questions ahead of his confirmation hearing. He said that missions between the two organizations “must be coordinated” and that the “ability to fuse intelligence and operations at speed is a decisive advantage.”
If confirmed, he told lawmakers that he would be “committed to ensuring the unity of effort that this arrangement provides continues to deliver results” but would continue “to assess if this is the most effective way to support the warfighter.”
His hearing also comes after the Pentagon recently established a revised cyber force generation model and amid heated debate about potentially creating a standalone “Cyber Force” as an independent military service focused on the digital realm. DefenseScoop reported that the launch of the updated force generation model would give Trump “decision space” for future organizational changes.
Advocates for creating a Cyber Force argue that some of the problems facing the military cyber community can only be solved with a standalone service, while opponents of the idea say it would be disruptive.
“We need to give them time to work,” Rudd said in his written responses about “service-like” authorities for Cybercom and enhanced budget control. “Before considering a major reorganization like creating a new service, I would want to understand the results of the ongoing studies mandated by Congress and work with this committee to determine the best path forward for the force.”