Democracy Under Pressure
Well, it’s Friday again and we’re still no closer to the end of the war in the Middle East. This week, Sen. Warner grilled intelligence leaders about this war, the potential for massive interference in the midterms, and Kash Patel’s complete and utter mismanagement of the FBI. He also spent the week fighting the horrendous voter suppression bill, the SAVE America Act. There’s a lot to get into, so without further ado…
MR. WORLDWIDE (THREATS)
Every year, Sen. Warner and the Intelligence Committee gather key leaders from across the intelligence community to testify before Congress and all Americans in the annual Worldwide Threats hearing. The difference this year? Some of those leaders are actively jeopardizing our national security.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel, NSA and Cyber Command Director General Joshua M. Rudd, and DIA Director General James Adams III joined Sen. Warner and the Intelligence Committee to discuss some of the greatest threats to our homeland. Sen. Warner used the opportunity to press Gabbard and Patel particularly hard on some of their failures.
For months, Sen. Warner has been closely monitoring Gabbard’s efforts to seize voting materials in Fulton Country and Puerto Rico. He’s consistently made it clear this could all serve as a pretext to manufacture fraud allegations and justify “taking over” the 2026 midterms – you can catch up with a video he produced on the topic here.
During the hearing, Sen. Warner repeatedly pressed Gabbard on this disturbing potential plan, saying:
“The DNI’s appearance at this raid – as well as her involvement in seizing voting machines from Puerto Rico – suggests something that should alarm every American: an organized effort to misuse her national security powers to interfere in domestic politics… and provide a pretext for the president’s unconstitutional efforts to seize control of the upcoming elections.
The president has repeatedly pushed for the nationalization of our elections – calling for the federal government to override state election laws and, quote, “take over” voting, while continuing to make false statements about election fraud.”
Sen. Warner raised concerns about Patel’s mismanagement of the FBI budget, saying:
“The Bureau’s budget is being slashed. Last year, it cut over $500 million, with the largest decreases from cyber, counterterrorism, and counterintelligence.
“And the remaining scarce resources are being squandered on things like a $60 million jet for the Director’s personal travel so he can go golfing in Scotland and party with athletes in Milan. In fact, according to a whistleblower, those flights became so frequent that they even delayed the Bureau’s response to major incidents, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the mass shooting at Brown University.
“Credible reports also indicate that highly trained FBI agents from elite SWAT units have been reassigned to chauffer his girlfriend – an unprecedented use of personnel whose training is intended for hunting violent criminals and neutralizing terrorists.”
You can catch his full opening statement here.
Sen. Warner also pressed for more answers on the intelligence underpinning the war in Iran. He has continued to make clear that there was NO imminent threat to Americans, and that this was entirely a war of choice by President Trump.
He caught Gabbard in several misleading statements, from her dodging questions about Fulton County to her alarming statements that she hadn’t seen several of President Trump’s key statements about the war. He also pointed out that she deviated from the remarks she had prepared… which would have contradicted Donald Trump’s position on Iran’s nuclear program.
And on Wednesday night, he joined Anderson Cooper on CNN to debrief the entire hearing. You can catch his comments here.
SAVING AMERICA FROM THE SAVE ACT
In addition to these critical national security priorities, Sen. Warner also spent the week working on a key domestic issue – protecting the right to vote.
Unfortunately, Republicans – after years of failing to pass basic protections like the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – have turned up the dial even further, and are threatening to pass an outright voter suppression bill, the SAVE America Act.
What’s so bad about the SAVE America Act? It institutes a crippling burden to provide proof of citizenship each time you register to vote or update your voter registration.
And proof of citizenship isn’t just voter ID – voters would need a passport or birth certificate. Forty percent of all Virginians – roughly 3 million people – don’t have a passport. Additionally, 2 MILLION Virginia women don’t have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name, meaning they’d need both a birth certificate and a marriage certificate to register to vote.
With all these bureaucratic hurdles, with the steep cost of a passport, with requirements to find and carry around your marriage license… millions of Americans stand to be disenfranchised if this dangerous, backwards bill is passed.
Sen. Warner is working hard to stand with these Americans and prevent this bill from becoming law. He issued a press release clearly laying out the stakes for Virginians. Alongside Sen. Kaine, he said:
“We support reasonable steps that help maintain trust in our elections, including the voter identification requirements we already have in Virginia. But the SAVE America Act goes far beyond that – it is a pretext for voter suppression. Republicans continue to raise baseless fears about election fraud and noncitizen voting, despite the fact that our elections are regularly audited and have also been tested repeatedly in courts, especially after 2020. Yet, no evidence of widespread voter fraud has ever been found. This bill is yet another extension of President Trump’s fixation on the 2020 election, and part of a broader effort to undermine confidence in our democracy ahead of 2026 and 2028.”
He also has spoken out on social media:
And on Tuesday, he also gave an impassioned speech on the floor here making the stakes clear.
GRAB BAG
FIGHTING FOR THE FORD: Sen. Warner issued a statement after a fire broke out on the USS Ford.
HOSPICE HOSPITALITY: Sen. Warner joined with colleagues to introduce the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act to modernize the Medicare hospice benefit, protect patients and taxpayers from fraud, and expand access to essential services and caregiver support.
KENT IS OUT: Sen. Warner issued a statement responding to NCTC Director Joe Kent resigning in protest over the Iran War.
TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK: Sen. Warner sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing serious concerns about the reported $10 billion payment to the Treasury as part of the Trump administration-brokered sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations.
STOPPING DEEPFAKES: Sen. Warner urged leading social media firms, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) platforms, and media editing software providers to take action against maliciously manipulated media, such as deepfakes, with a series of measures centered around transparency, collaboration, and means of enforcement.
KENNEDY CENTER: Sen. Warner issued a statement on President Trump’s harmful meddling at the Kennedy Center.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Senate will be in session next week, and Sen. Warner will vote on nominations and legislation. On Friday, he will meet with constituents in Northern Virginia.
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