White House Memo Orders NSA, Cyber Command Split by July 1, Officials Say

The Decision

The White House will issue a national security memorandum next week directing the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to end the dual-hat command of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command by July 1, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The directive, which has been circulating in draft form since January 12, will require the two organizations to install separate four-star commanders for the first time in Cyber Command's 16-year history, the officials said.

The dual-hat arrangement traces its origins to a 2010 agreement between the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence, who concluded that the new Cyber Command should leverage NSA's existing workforce, facilities, and legal authorities while it built its own capabilities. At the time, Cyber Command had fewer than 1,000 personnel. It now has roughly 6,000 military and civilian employees and a budget request for fiscal 2026 of approximately $10.8 billion, according to congressional budget documents.

The current dual-hat arrangement places one four-star officer in charge of both Fort Meade, Maryland-based agencies. The draft memorandum, titled 'NSM-28: Separation of Cyber Warfighting and Signals Intelligence Authorities,' argues that the overlap has become a liability as Cyber Command's offensive missions expand and NSA's foreign intelligence collection faces stricter oversight, the officials said.

One official said the decision followed a 14-month review led by the National Security Council and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The review concluded that the dual-hat structure created conflicts in targeting priorities, slowed legal approvals for offensive cyber operations, and complicated congressional oversight. The memo will direct the defense secretary and the director of national intelligence to submit a joint implementation plan by March 31, the officials said.

Operational Concerns

Two operators at U.S. Cyber Command said the workforce learned of the pending change during a February 24 town hall at Fort Meade. Senior leaders told attendees that the split would take effect in phases and that no personnel would be reassigned before October 1, the operators said. The operators, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal planning, said the announcement drew mixed reactions.

'The workforce has been asking for clarity for years,' one operator said. 'But there is real concern that a hard separation will duplicate capabilities we already have and create two bureaucracies where coordination used to be informal.'

A former NSA targeting officer said the split would most directly affect the Targeted Access Operations unit and the Cyber National Mission Force, which have historically shared infrastructure, tooling, and personnel. The former officer said separating the two could introduce delays of 48 to 72 hours for time-sensitive operations, a period that adversaries could exploit.

Another concern raised by operators is the future of the shared cyber weapons repository, known internally as the Cyber Development Environment. The two agencies maintain overlapping toolsets for network exploitation, and separating them could require each command to maintain duplicate versions of the same capabilities, the former NSA targeting officer said.

A congressional staffer on the Armed Services Committee said lawmakers were briefed on the plan February 19 in a classified session in the Capitol Visitor Center. The staffer said the administration requested $340 million in supplemental funding for the first year of the transition, with $210 million earmarked for Fort Gordon, Georgia, where Cyber Command support elements would relocate by 2028. The remaining $130 million would cover duplicated IT systems, legal reviews, and new liaison offices, the staffer said.

The congressional staffer said the $340 million first-year price tag included $45 million for constructing a new joint operations floor at Fort Gordon, $38 million for duplicating classified networks, and $27 million for hiring additional lawyers, compliance officers, and congressional liaison staff. The staffer said the administration planned to include the funding in a supplemental appropriations request expected to reach Congress by March 10.

Implementation Timeline

The draft memorandum sets a July 1 deadline for naming separate commanders, though the full transition is expected to last until fiscal 2029, the officials said. Under the plan, the current dual-hat commander would remain in one role, likely at NSA, while a new Cyber Command commander would be nominated and confirmed by the Senate. The memo instructs the services to identify candidate flag officers by April 15.

The plan also calls for a new 'joint coordination center' at Fort Meade to preserve day-to-day collaboration between NSA's signals intelligence mission and Cyber Command's military operations. The center would operate under a memorandum of understanding between the defense secretary and the director of national intelligence, with quarterly reports to Congress, the officials said.

The draft memo also directs the Pentagon to study whether Cyber Command should eventually relocate its headquarters from Fort Meade to a separate installation, with Fort Gordon and Fort Liberty, North Carolina, under review as potential long-term homes. A decision on headquarters relocation is not expected before fiscal 2027, the officials said.

Two officials said the final memorandum would be coordinated with the Justice Department, the Office of Legal Counsel, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to ensure that existing surveillance authorities remain valid during the transition. One official said the administration expects the court to request a briefing by April 1.

Three congressional aides briefed on the plan said the House and Senate Armed Services committees planned to hold closed hearings on the proposal in mid-March. One aide said the Senate Intelligence Committee had requested a copy of the draft NSM by March 5 and would issue a classified assessment by March 20.

The announcement comes as Cyber Command has conducted an increasing number of 'hunt forward' operations in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and as NSA has faced pressure to tighten controls on domestic collection under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Separating the two commands could make it easier for the Justice Department and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to trace which organization is responsible for specific collection, the former NSA officer said.

What to watch in the next 48 to 72 hours: whether the White House releases a public fact sheet, how the Senate Armed Services Committee schedules confirmation hearings, and whether any senior military officials submit dissenting views through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Officials said the memorandum could be signed as early as March 2.