Senate Intelligence Committee Hears Nominations for NSA and NCSC; Nominees Pledge Cooperation on Section 702, Clearances and Supply‑chain Risk

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence heard confirmation testimony for two nominees on matters of U.S. cybersecurity and counterintelligence, with General Haack nominated for director of the National Security Agency and Mike Casey nominated for director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

In opening remarks, General Haack said, "If confirmed, my focus will be to strengthen that advantage," citing NSA's work on signals intelligence, cybersecurity and partnerships across government, industry and foreign allies. Mike Casey said, "If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, I will seek to ensure that our nation's counterintelligence efforts are integrated and effective," and described priorities including security‑clearance reform, supply‑chain protection and outreach to industry and academia.

Why it matters: the two posts shape how the U.S. collects foreign technical intelligence, defends government and critical infrastructure networks, and coordinates protection of sensitive technologies. Committee members repeatedly pressed the nominees on the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, oversight and compliance protections for U.S. persons, the dual‑hat relationship between NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, insider threats and how the agencies support private‑sector resilience.

On Section 702, Chairman Mark Warner and other members asked both nominees to help make the case for reauthorization and to document reforms since the law's last reauthorization. General Haack said Section 702 is "a critical authority" for foreign‑target collection and emphasized a "culture of compliance" at NSA. He agreed to provide a written assessment of how protections used under other authorities might apply to Section 702 before the committee's vote.

On security clearances, both nominees pledged active cooperation with the committee. Several senators pressed for technical and process reforms to reduce insider risk and to accelerate the rollout of personnel‑vetting improvements referenced in the hearing, including the government-wide Trusted Workforce initiatives.

The nominees also addressed operational questions: General Haack described the NSA's role as the signals‑intelligence functional manager for the intelligence community and said that role includes computer‑network operations. He pledged that, if confirmed, "we will not weaken encryption for Americans." Mike Casey described NCSC's coordinating role under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and said the center must better coordinate counterintelligence, personal vetting, and supply‑chain security across government.

Committee members highlighted other priorities raised during the hearing: more transparent reporting of inadvertent collection, work with industry to share actionable threat information, efforts to protect critical civilian infrastructure, and continuing reforms to the security‑clearance process. Several senators pressed the nominees for follow‑up classified briefings and firm written answers ahead of a committee vote.

The hearing record closed with the chairman asking members to submit any additional questions for the record by noon on Thursday, July 13. The committee adjourned after roughly 1.5 hours of testimony and questioning.