Senator Warner’s Oversight Visit to Spy Agency Scrapped Amid Far-Right Backlash

Washington, D.C., September 4, 2025 - A classified visit by Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) was abruptly canceled this week following a public campaign of online attacks by far-right activist Laura Loomer. Warner learned the decision was made late Tuesday by the office of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after Loomer criticized both the senator and NGA Director Vice Admiral Trey Whitworth on social media.

Warner, a senior senator from Virginia, had scheduled the September 5 meeting weeks in advance as part of his routine oversight responsibilities. He described the cancellation as “utterly outrageous,” questioning whether a private citizen now wields authority over congressional access to America’s intelligence agencies. “Where does it stop?” Warner asked reporters. He expressed hope that Republican colleagues would defend congressional oversight and accompany him in rescheduling the session.

In recent posts, Loomer denounced Warner as a “rabid ANTI-TRUMP DEMOCRAT” and blamed him for what she called the “debunked Russia Collusion Hoax.” She demanded Whitworth’s dismissal for hosting the classified engagement and called on Secretary Hegseth to fire him for insubordination. In response, Pentagon officials characterized the visit as merely “rescheduled to allow for bipartisan participation” in a town-hall format rather than outright canceled.

Senator Warner condemned Loomer’s interventions as a dangerous precedent undermining nonpartisan oversight. He warned that barring congressional engagement with career intelligence professionals risks eroding the civilian checks that safeguard national security. “Members of Congress routinely conduct meetings and on-site engagements with federal employees in their states and districts; blocking and setting arbitrary conditions on these sessions sets a dangerous precedent,” he said.