U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), due to Krebs' recent statement about the election. 

Trump tweeted that the decision is effective immediately, adding that "the recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud – including dead people voting."

Reuters reported last week that Krebs, who worked on protecting the election from hackers but drew the ire of the White House over efforts to debunk disinformation, had told associates he expected to be fired. 

Krebs headed up the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. A CISA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. 

The Reuters report prompted an outpouring of support from security experts around the country, who praised Krebs for his bipartisan work in the past two years. 

Krebs angered the White House over a website run by CISA dubbed "Rumor Control," which debunks misinformation about the election, according to the three people familiar with the matter.

He was not given notice of Trump's plan to fire him, according to a person familiar with the matter, and learned of the decision through Twitter.

Matthew Travis, Krebs' deputy and the number two at the agency, resigned on Tuesday night. 

CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales is expected to take over from Krebs as the acting head of the agency on Wednesday, an agency official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. 

Wales has served in multiple positions within the DHS under the Trump administration and is not seen as a partisan figure, said a former colleague.

On his own Twitter account, Krebs did not back down, writing: "Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomorrow."

(With input from Reuters)