Hegseth Terminates Defense Intelligence Agency Head, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse

Related video: National Guard Armed In DC To Bolster Trump's Crime Crackdown

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth terminated the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

A senior defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Friday that Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse "will no longer serve" as the director of the military intelligence organization.

Kruse’s departure from the agency was confirmed by a DIA spokesperson, who added that deputy director Christine Bordine will assume the role of acting director “effective immediately.” 

The firing of Kruse, who became the 23rd director of DIA last year, comes as the administration has continued to shake up the U.S. national security and military ranks.

In a surprise move, the Air Force announced on Monday that its chief of staff, Gen. David Allvin, would retire in November after serving only two years of his four-year term. 

DIA made headlines earlier this summer after its preliminary, low-confidence assessment was leaked shortly after the U.S. military’s June strikes on Iran’s three nuclear sites. The report said that Iran’s nuclear program was set back by only a few months, prompting strong pushback from President Trump, his allies and Israeli officials. 

The Defense Department said in early July that Iran’s nuclear program was set back one to two years. 

The termination of Kruse, who was the director of intelligence of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from 2016 to 2019, sparked criticism from a top Senate Democrat. 

“The firing of yet another senior national security official underscores the Trump administration’s dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country. General Kruse is a career military officer with decades of distinguished, non-partisan service to our nation, making this ouster all the more troubling,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement on Friday. 

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) also raised questions about the termination, saying the Trump administration is required to justify the decision.

“I’m grateful to Lieutenant General Kruse for his decades of service and his strong history of apolitical engagement with the Intelligence Committee. If the Administration has cause to fire Director Kruse, they must provide that information to Congress immediately," he said in a statement.

"Otherwise, we can only assume that this is another politically motivated decision intended to create an atmosphere of fear, something that chills the ability of the Intelligence Community to do its job and protect national security.”

Kruse’s ouster was first reported by The Washington Post. 

This story was updated at 5:45 p.m.