Electronic surveillance

NSA director Mike Rogers announces his retirement

National Security Agency director Adm. Mike Rogers announced he is retiring this spring, according to multiple news reports published Friday.

President Donald Trump is said to nominate a successor later this month, and could trigger a lengthy Senate confirmation process that is expected to be completed in two to three weeks, according to Politico.

Rogers served four years as the head of the intelligence agency. His pending departure comes amid reports that a wave of skilled personnel are also leaving the agency. Hundreds of hackers, engineers, and data scientists, were said to have left the agency since 2015, in part because of low pay and internal frustrations among staff, The Washington Post reported.

Rogers, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2014, dealt with the fallout from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's leaks of classified material to journalists.

Rogers was at the helm during several scandals at the NSA, including most recently, the leaking of an intelligence report on Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election by the 25-year old former contractor, Reality Winner.