A taste of what Rogers has to look forward to.
Photo: Win McNamee/2013 Getty Images
President Obama has already dismissed a White House panel’s recommendation that a civilian be put in charge of the NSA, and now he’s made it official. On Thursday, the administration announced that it’s tapped Vice Admiral Michael Rogers to head the NSA and the military’s Cyber Command. Rogers is the current commander of the Navy’s Fleet Cyber Command and an expert in designing cyberweapons, but the New York Times notes that he has “no public track record in addressing the kinds of privacy concerns that have put the agency under a harsh spotlight.” We’ll soon know much more about his thoughts on the topic, as the Senate is expected to use his confirmation hearing to extract more information about the NSA’s operations, and vent about government surveillance. And if Rogers is confirmed to replace General Keith Alexander, who is retiring after nine years in the position, his top priorities will include reforming how the NSA collects Americans’ phone data and dealing with various other policy changes that the White House left for other agencies to decide.
