Cybersecurity Policy Report, Cyber Command Nominee Lacks Necessary Experience, Wyden Says, (Feb 26, 2026)

By Tom Leithauser

The Trump administration’s nominee to lead U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and the National Security Agency, Joshua Rudd, lacks the necessary experience to be an effective CYBERCOM commander, according to Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.).

“The cyber threat to the United States cannot be overstated,” Sen. Wyden said in remarks published in yesterday’s Congressional Record.

“The Commander of CYBERCOM needs to have a sophisticated understanding of this threat and how it has evolved over time. He or she needs to be able to see this threat in its geopolitical context and to fully grasp both the technical capabilities and the policy options that might help counter the threat,” Sen. Wyden said.

“General Rudd, despite his service, does not have the background that would allow him to immediately step into this role,” he added.

Sen. Wyden said he would vote against Mr. Rudd’s confirmation when it reaches the Senate floor in coming days. The Senate Intelligence Committee recently advanced the nomination by a 14-3 vote, and the nomination cleared the Armed Services Committee by a voice vote in late January (CPR, Feb. 11).

Mr. Rudd, an Army lieutenant general and deputy director of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, was nominated for the CYBERCOM and NSA posts by President Trump in December.

At a confirmation hearing last month, Mr. Rudd told the Armed Services Committee that he would compensate for his lack of cybersecurity experience by learning “from the world-class military and civilian personnel who execute this mission every day” (CPR, Jan. 15).

Aside from Mr. Rudd’s lack of cybersecurity experience, Sen. Wyden expressed concern about the nominee’s understanding of the legal protections NSA must observe in its signals intelligence work.

“The NSA’s surveillance authorities are vast and, if anything, underappreciated by the American people,” he said. “Our country faces a dangerous moment in which constitutional rights are under attack.”

“It was in that context that I asked General Rudd what he would do if directed to target people in the United States for surveillance without a judicial warrant. I offered him the opportunity to answer with a yes or a no. I didn’t get an answer,” he recalled.

“I did everything in my power to allow him to demonstrate some understanding of the basic guardrails of NSA’s authorities and got nothing but vague assurances about following the law,” Sen. Wyden said.

“There were other topics on which General Rudd’s responses were disappointing. He wouldn’t associate himself with NSA’s previous commitment not to buy and use Americans’ location data,” he noted.

“He also refused to say whether the government should be allowed to mandate backdoors into encryption used by Americans,” he added. “For these reasons, I oppose the nomination.”

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