General Paul Nakasone, the director of the National Security Agency and the military’s Cyber Command, announced that he will be leaving the Biden administration in the coming months.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news of Nakasone's coming resignation on Thursday as the White House is struggling with multiple scandals. The 59-year-old four-star general has been serving at his position since 2018 and is expected to leave in the fall, but it could happen sooner than that.
Working in the Biden administration must be taking its toll on Nakasone and his resignation is just the latest in a series of high-profile defections that the Biden administration has had to deal with.
What is worse, Nakasone's announcement threatens to undermine the Biden administration's efforts to get a key piece of legislation passed.
Nakasone is a key figure in President Joe Biden's fight to have Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act renewed ahead of its impending expiration.
The Wall Street Journal detailed the situation saying, "If Gen. Nakasone does step down before the end of the year, it could complicate the Biden administration’s effort to persuade Congress to reauthorize a controversial foreign intelligence law before it expires. The law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA], permits the NSA to collect vast amounts of intelligence from U.S. technology providers about foreign espionage, terrorism and national-security threats overseas."
Section 702 is one of the key pieces of federal law that allows the NSA to collected incredible amounts of information that many allege is used to spy on Americans.
The Wall Street Journal also noted, "The chief of NSA and Cyber Command is considered one of the most critical national-security jobs in government. The role oversees two agencies that supply vast amounts of intelligence to senior policy makers by spying on foreign communications, while protecting government networks from cyberattacks and supporting military operations."
Nakasone's departure will be a serious problem for President Joe Biden but might be good news for Americans.
Section 702 expiring and robbing the NSA of a powerful weapon to use against the American people will never not be fantastic news for Americans who have found themselves increasingly stripped of their privacy.
When Nakasone leaves his position, he will join Chris Inglis, who was the head of the Office of the National Cyber Director before he also resigned earlier this year.
Inglis had only been serving at his position for two years when he resigned. That in combination with the sudden decision by Nakasone to step down raises questions about what is really going on behind the scenes.
The Biden administration has been rocked by scandal in the past few weeks. The massive leak of classified documents from the Pentagon last month has drawn unwanted attention and it is possible Nakasone is getting out of the way of an impending investigation.
Last month's document leak is indicative of a dysfunctional culture and failing leadership at the Pentagon and Republicans will certainly want answers from the Biden administration.
