President Donald Trump has taken steps to nominate Army Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, the deputy chief of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, to head the military's Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.

The command and the NSA have been without a permanent leader for more than eight months after Trump abruptly fired the last chief, along with his NSA deputy, following a meeting with far-right activist Laura Loomer.

The administration bypassed two potential candidates before turning to Rudd, including the current acting Cyber Command and NSA chief, to serve as the “dual-hat” leader of the two entities, which are co-located at Fort Meade, Maryland.

The Record first reported last month that Rudd was a top contender to helm the organizations.

The White House has not announced the nomination as of Tuesday morning, but Rudd's name appears in the Congressional Record as being nominated for an unspecified promotion. It was referred to the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, the usual steps for someone picked to take the leadership of Cyber Command and NSA.

The White House, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and congressional committee leaders did not immediately respond to questions from Recorded Future News. The Department of Defense deferred a request for comment to the White House.

The promotion would make Rudd a four-star general, the rank needed to lead Cyber Command.

Picking Rudd — who became the No. 2 at INDOPACOM last year — would place someone without deep experience in cyberspace operations  atop the Pentagon’s premier digital warfighting outfit.

Prior to becoming INDOPACM’s deputy last year, Rudd served as its chief of staff. He previously was the head of Special Operations Command Pacific, one of a number of leadership posts he held within U.S. special forces. He also deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Speaking to reporters last month at the Aspen Cyber Summit, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), said a deep background in cyberwarfare or intelligence wasn’t a barrier for the dual-leadership role.

“Do you have to have specific knowledge of it to come in to manage it and operate it? It helps but it's not necessarily mandatory,” according to Rounds, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, which will share jurisdiction over Rudd’s nomination. 

“These guys that are out there, and they're in the field … they're using it every day as a user, so they kind of have an understanding of what it is to begin with.”

The action on Rudd's nomination comes after the Trump administration changed its mind about who would serve as the new No. 2 at the NSA.