Hold onto your hats, folks—the White House just yanked Joe Francescon as its pick for deputy director of the National Security Agency (NSA), leaving a gaping hole in critical cyber leadership.
In a nutshell, the White House’s decision to pull Francescon has deepened a leadership crisis at the NSA and Cyber Command, with top spots vacant for over eight months amid internal squabbles and activist pushback, The Hill reported.
Let’s rewind to August, when the NSA announced that Director Tulsi Gabbard had tapped Francescon for the deputy role, with President Trump’s nod of approval.
Francescon isn’t some random name—he’s been with the NSA since 2008, climbing the ranks with stints at the White House National Security Council and the Pentagon.
Yet, despite his deep resume, the White House reversed course, scrapping his designation without ever submitting a formal nomination since the role doesn’t require Senate confirmation, per a White House official speaking to The Hill.
The news of this withdrawal first broke via The Record, and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., didn’t mince words when he shared it on social platform X.
Bacon pointed fingers at internal White House bickering and the influence of conservative activist Laura Loomer as reasons for the mess.
“This means the top two positions at NSA and the four-star commander at Cyber Command will remain vacant for 8 months and counting,” Bacon posted on X, clearly frustrated with the delay.
“All because of infighting in the White House and the involvement of whacky Laura Loomer in hiring,” he added, throwing a sharp but fair jab at the chaos behind closed doors.
Loomer herself didn’t shy away from taking credit, cheering Francescon’s removal on social media with a victory lap that could be heard from coast to coast.
Her beef? A 2023 campaign donation Francescon made to Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a figure Loomer and others on the right view with suspicion after Crow joined five other Democrats in a video advising military members against following unlawful orders.
While some might call Loomer’s influence a win for accountability, others see it as a distraction from the urgent need to fill these roles.
Adding fuel to the fire, the acting NSA deputy director is set to retire by month’s end, ensuring both top NSA positions and the key Cyber Command role stay empty for the foreseeable future.
Bacon nailed the stakes with another pointed critique: “We are at Cyber War everyday and the inability to get leaders in place is gross negligence.”
Hard to argue with that when cyber threats don’t take holidays, and our national security hangs in the balance over what looks like petty political gamesmanship.
