WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statements after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (IAA) today on a bipartisan 15-2 vote. The bill authorizes funding, provides legal authorities, and enhances oversight of national security threats and our United States Intelligence Community.

“This bipartisan bill provides the Intelligence Community the resources it needs to do its mission while ensuring that we maintain rigorous oversight of the IC’s activities. This year’s IAA responds to important concerns, including by enhancing protections for whistleblowers, and also safeguards our Nation’s critical infrastructure in the wake of the Salt Typhoon compromises.  At the same time, it readies the IC for the future by promoting IC energy resiliency through the deployment of nuclear technologies and enhancing the IC’s ability to detect and counter threats relating to biotechnologies and bioweapons,” said Sen. Warner. 

“I’d like to thank my colleagues for their tireless work on this bill that will go a long way towards keeping America safer and making the intelligence agencies charged with doing so more transparent and efficient. I am pleased this bill includes needed reforms and restructuring to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, restricts the travel of adversarial diplomats inside the United States, and protects Intelligence Community installations by adding further reviews to nearby land purchases which safeguards them against drone threats. This bill passed out of committee on a bipartisan basis and I hope my colleagues will support its passage by the full Senate,” said Sen. Cotton.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 will:

• Significantly reform and improve efficiencies and effectiveness within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the broader Intelligence Community;
• Require that visas be denied to certain nationals applying to work at the United Nations if they are known or suspected of being foreign intelligence officers or committing intelligence or espionage activities;
• Prohibit the Intelligence Community from contracting with Chinese military companies engaged in biotechnology research, development, or manufacturing;
• Codify tour and travel restrictions for Chinese, Russian Iranian and North Korean diplomats in the United States;
• Improve the Intelligence Community’s artificial intelligence capabilities and capacity and establish guidelines for the IC’s procurement and use of artificial intelligence;
• Shores up counter-intelligence risks posed by Salt Typhoon compromises of U.S. telecommunications infrastructure by leveraging IC procurement power;
• Strengthen the security of telecommunications networks by establish baseline cybersecurity requirements for vendors of telecommunications services to the IC;
• Establish authorities for protecting Central Intelligence Agency facilities from unmanned aircraft systems;
• Require the Intelligence Community to develop a policy for sharing biotechnological threats with U.S. agencies, allies, and private-sector partners, including on PRC efforts to acquire genomic data;
• Require the Director of National Intelligence to identify sites for deployment of advanced nuclear technologies;
• Establish a fund to support IC efforts to acquire and integrate emerging technologies proven to meet mission needs;
• Prohibit Intelligence Community contractors from collecting or selling Intelligence Community personnel location data;
• Support the Intelligence Community workforce by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to issue standard guidelines for Intelligence Community personnel to document and report Anomalous Health Incidents; 
• Enhance protections for, and congressional oversight of, Intelligence Community whistleblowers;
• Require the Director of National Intelligence to enhance efforts to counter narcotics trafficking with the Government of Mexico;
• Promote transparency by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a declassification review and publish intelligence relating to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Streamline the construction of Intelligence Community facilities;
• Amend the Spectrum Relocation Fund authorization to clarify eligibility for Title 50 agencies that utilize spectrum and whose usage could be impacted by future reallocation decisions;
• Protect Americans’ privacy by statutorily requiring procedures governing the dissemination of U.S. identities and corresponding reporting requirements, as well as prohibits the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis from collecting intelligence on Americans; and
• Provide additional reviews for foreign purchases of land near IC facilities.

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WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today released the following statement after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard addressed the Turning Point USA political summit:

“What we have here is a Director of National Intelligence willing to break decades of precedent to attack her own workforce and weaponize American intelligence at a political rally. 

“Director Gabbard is unable to adhere to her oath. Her claims that she cares about depoliticizing intelligence are incompatible with reality. When will my Republican colleagues, who claim to care about national security, finally speak up? Our intelligence community deserves better.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement after the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works voted to approve updated authorizations for 18 Veterans Affairs (VA) major medical facility leases, including a proposed lease for an outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads:

“We are very encouraged to see the Senate EPW Committee heed our request to quickly reauthorize 18 VA medical facility leases, including one for a new outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads. This facility would fill a critical gap, providing broader access and more convenient services for veterans on the south side of the region, who currently represent over 60 percent of the Hampton VA Medical Center's patient base. We will continue to press our colleagues in the House of Representatives to finalize the reauthorization process and ensure that our nation’s veterans are not forced to endure unacceptable wait times or travel burdensome distances to access the high-quality care they have earned through their sacrifice and dedication.”

While these leases were originally authorized under the PACT Act, which both senators strongly supported, updated cost estimates and rent bids prompted the VA and the General Services Administration (GSA) to seek reauthorization from four congressional committees. To date, the leases have been reapproved by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. One final approval, from the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, remains.

Sens. Warner and Kaine have long fought to expand health care and benefits for Virginia’s nearly 700,000 veterans. Sens. Warner and Kaine began raising the alarm about the significant backlog of unapproved VA leases in 2016. After putting significant pressure on officials across the federal government, Congress unanimously passed the Providing Veterans Overdue Care Act, legislation written by Sen. Warner and supported by Sen. Kaine, to cut the backlog and get over two dozen delayed VA medical facilities’ leases approved.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement as President Trump signs into law the GOP’s partisan budget megabill:

“Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have made it clear that they are willing to sell out millions of Americans in order to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. This legislation is cruel and reckless – tearing health care away from millions of Americans, slashing critical assistance programs, killing jobs, and exploding our debt. Virginians deserve better, especially on a day that is meant to be about celebrating the promise of America and freedom from tyranny.”

Sens. Warner and Kaine introduced a series of amendments in an attempt to improve the legislation. Republicans blocked them.

The senators have been sounding the alarm about the effects of the GOP plan on Virginia families, noting that the GOP plan will strip health insurance from about 323,000 Virginians, saddle families with medical debt, cut SNAP benefits for more than 204,000 Virginians, and devastate rural communities. The legislation will also explode the deficit, jeopardize more than 20,000 Virginia jobs, raise energy costs, give the richest 0.1% a $255,125 tax cut, and eliminate a program allowing Americans file federal taxes for free.

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WASHINGTON —Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Trump Administration missed a key deadline to distribute $6.2 billion in federal K-12 funding, including $108 million for Virginia schools, to support teacher training, after school programming, mental health resources, and more:

“Virginians know that high-quality public schools and the well-being of our children are critical to the Commonwealth’s future and economic success. The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold over $6 billion in funding that Congress appropriated for schools across the country, while pushing for a disastrous megabill that slashes programs Virginians rely on to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, tells you everything you need to know about their priorities. This move will devastate our students, especially those in our rural communities. We demand that the Administration immediately provide Virginia schools with the $108 million in funding we voted to secure, and urge all of Virginia’s leaders to do the same.”

The $108 million being withheld from Virginia represents over 12 percent of the Commonwealth’s total K-12 funding.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement:

“Moving the FBI from the Hoover Building to the Reagan Building isn’t a plan, it’s a punt. For years, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have agreed on the need for a secure, purpose-built headquarters that actually meets the FBI’s mission needs. This announcement brushes aside years of careful planning, ignores the recommendations of security and mission experts, and raises serious concerns about how this decision was made. Unfortunately, it fits a broader pattern from this administration — one marked by indiscriminate firings, canceled leases, and a general disregard for the federal workforce.

“The law enforcement and intelligence professionals of the FBI deserve more than a hasty, improvised approach. They deserve a facility that matches the gravity of their work to keep Americans safe.”

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WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today released the following statement after voting in favor of Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA)’s war powers resolution:

“Article I of the Constitution is clear: the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Any decision by a president to commit the U.S. military to hostilities must be done in accordance with the Constitution and existing laws and statutes. Similarly, any authorization by Congress merits clearly articulated strategy, consideration of long-term implications for U.S. action, and robust debate.

“I applaud my friend Tim Kaine for his leadership on this resolution, which makes clear that President Trump does not currently have the congressional authorization needed for further U.S. insertion into hostilities with Iran.

“I have been clear since last week’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure that the administration’s complete lack of consultation ahead of the operation, combined with its lack of objective transparency since, in no way suggest a clearheaded and strategic plan for navigating this in the long term. The American people here at home – and our personnel deployed across the region – deserve far more in terms of a cogent strategy.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $5,058,755 in federal funding to support infrastructure improvements at seven airports across Virginia. This funding comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration Airport Infrastructure Grant program, made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law.

“Investing in our airports means investing in safety, connectivity, and economic opportunity for communities across the Commonwealth,” said the senators. “We’re proud to support these improvements that will help ensure Virginia’s airports continue to serve travelers and local economies for years to come.”

The funding is broken down as follows:

• 2,948,555 to the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission to upgrade taxiways B, B1, B2, B3, and B4 at the Roanoke Regional Airport;
• $730,000 to the City of Suffolk to expand the terminal apron Suffolk Executive Airport to allow for a wider variety of aircrafts;
• $661,200 to the Chesapeake Airport Authority to remove trees obstructing operations at the Chesapeake Regional Airport;
• $260,000 to the County of Halifax to install runway end identifier lights and a precision approach path indicator system at William M. Tuck Airport;
• $190,000 to the Town of Farmville to reconstruct the precision approach path indicator system for Runway 3/21 at Farmville Regional Airport;
• $159,000 to the Dinwiddie County Airport and Industrial Authority to construct a new hanger for aircraft storage at Dinwiddie County Airport;
• $110,000 to the Town of Tangier to reseal taxiway and apron pavement prolonging their lifespan at Tangier Island Airport.

 Sens. Warner and Kaine have long supported efforts to improve Virginia’s airports. Sens. Warner and Kaine have secured millions in federal funding for airports across Virginia through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In January of this year the senators announced over $12 million for improvements to Virginia’s airports. In October 2024, they announced nearly $57 million in federal funding for revitalizations efforts, and in September 2024, they announced more than $46 million in federal funding for improvements to Virginia airports through the Airport Improvement Program. The senators have previously announced $104.6 million in combined federal funding for the new terminal building at Dulles.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) are urging the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to swiftly take up and reapprove the authorization of 18 major Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility leases, including a proposed lease for an outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads.

The leases were originally authorized under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act which Sens. Warner and Kaine strongly supported. However, updated cost estimates and rent bids triggered the VA and the General Services Administration (GSA) to seek reauthorization from four congressional committees: the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. To date, only the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure committees have put forward resolutions to reapprove the leases.

In a letter to the leaders of the EPW Committee, the senators stressed the current challenges veterans in Hampton Roads are facing when trying to access care. 

“One of these impacted leases is for a new outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads, with a proposed size of 182,230 net usable square feet,” the senators wrote. “This proposed facility would serve a critical need in a high-density region that has increasing demand for VA services. Particularly for those veterans who live on the south side of Hampton Roads – home to more than 60 percent of the patient population at the Hampton VA Medical Center – this clinic would broaden care access, and provide increased services at a location more convenient to many of these veterans.”

The senators continued, “Those associated with the region are all too familiar with challenges accessing care. The VA acknowledges through its own assessment, that the Hampton VAMC faces many physical challenges, such as frequent flooding and severe access difficulties for a large portion of the veterans it serves due to heavy traffic restricting area patients’ access to the VAMC. Hiring and recruitment challenges, in a state and region that are near the top of the list nationally in terms of share of veteran population, have contributed to challenges accessing timely care over the years. Looking forward, the VA estimates that the already sizable enrollee base in the region is expected to grow by upwards of 10 to 15 percent in the coming decades, leading to a patient population that could support multiple new VA medical centers and outpatient clinics.”

Sens. Warner and Kaine have long fought to expand health care and benefits for Virginia’s nearly 700,000 veterans. Sens. Warner and Kaine began raising the alarm about the significant backlog of unapproved VA leases in 2016. After putting significant pressure on officials across the federal government, Congress unanimously passed the Providing Veterans Overdue Care Act, legislation written by Sen. Warner and supported by Sen. Kaine, to cut the backlog and get over two dozen delayed VA medical facilities’ leases approved.

A copy of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Chair Capito and Ranking Member Whitehouse,

We write today to urge your committee to take up and pass a resolution approving of 18 major medical facility leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which were originally authorized under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, and now await reapproval by relevant Congressional committees. This tranche of facility prospectuses includes a planned facility in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, and so we encourage timely action by your committee.

The PACT Act (P.L.117-168) included authorization and initial support funding for thirty-one veterans’ medical care and research facilities in nineteen states. In the intervening years from when the VA first calculated cost estimates for these projects, to the time they initiated conversations with local developers, the cost estimates for 18 of the facilities had increased. As such, the VA resubmitted those 18 prospectuses for their reapproval by Congressional committees.

One of these impacted leases is for a new outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads, with a proposed size of 182,230 net usable square feet. This proposed facility would serve a critical need in a high-density region that has increasing demand for VA services. Particularly for those veterans who live on the south side of Hampton Roads – home to more than 60 percent of the patient population at the Hampton VA Medical Center – this clinic would broaden care access, and provide increased services at a location more convenient to many of these veterans.

Those associated with the region are all too familiar with challenges accessing care. The VA acknowledges through its own assessment, that the Hampton VAMC faces many physical challenges, such as frequent flooding and severe access difficulties for a large portion of the veterans it serves due to heavy traffic restricting area patients’ access to the VAMC. Hiring and recruitment challenges, in a state and region that are near the top of the list nationally in terms of share of veteran population, have contributed to challenges accessing timely care over the years. Looking forward, the VA estimates that the already sizable enrollee base in the region is expected to grow by upwards of 10 to 15 percent in the coming decades, leading to a patient population that could support multiple new VA medical centers and outpatient clinics.

In recognition of the need to streamline the process whereby Congress considers VA facility approvals and remove some the hurdles and delays to their being built, the PACT Act simplified the acquisition process. Under the law, re-approval of this slate of leases would require resolutions of approval by four Committees in Congress: the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. As of our writing of this letter, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs and House Transportation and Infrastructure committees have passed resolutions of approval.

We urge your committee to quickly consider and approve these leases. As always we appreciate your attention to these matters, as well as your efforts to conduct oversight and work with the Executive Branch on important matters impacting federal infrastructure. And we share your commitment to ensuring that veterans who have earned these services and care have the facilities needed to access them in a timely manner.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) and U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly (PA-16), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), and Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), co-leads of the bipartisan Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, released the following joint statement after an announcement Monday from U.S. Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz that pledges to ease the Medicare Advantage prior authorization process.

The pledge, which includes several provisions contained in their legislation, follows years of legislative progress led by Kelly and Congressional colleagues.

"We applaud these commitments, which aims to improve health care access for millions of Americans by easing the Medicare Advantage prior authorization process," the Members said. "We encourage our House and Senate colleagues to carry this momentum forward and to pass our life-changing legislation, the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, to ensure this progress becomes law."

Under the commitment, participating health plans would:

• Standardize electronic prior authorization submissions using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®)-based application programming interfaces.
• Reduce the volume of medical services subject to prior authorization by January 1, 2026.
• Honor existing authorizations during insurance transitions to ensure continuity of care.
• Enhance transparency and communication around authorization decisions and appeals.
• Expand real-time responses to minimize delays in care with real-time approvals for most requests by 2027.
• Ensure medical professionals review all clinical denials.
   

In May 2025, Sen. Warner reintroduced the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act. Prior authorization is a tool used by health plans to reduce unnecessary care by requiring health care providers to get pre-approval for medical services. But it’s not without fault. The current system often results in unconfirmed faxes of a patient’s medical information or phone calls by clinicians which takes precious time away from delivering quality and timely care. Prior authorization continues to be the #1 administrative burden identified by health care providers, and three out of four Medicare Advantage enrollees are subject to unnecessary delays due to prior authorization. In recent years, the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) raised concerns after an audit revealed that Medicare Advantage plans ultimately approved 75% of requests that were originally denied. More recently, HHS OIG released a report finding that MA plans incorrectly denied beneficiaries’ access to services even though they met Medicare coverage rules.

Health plans, health care providers, and patients agree that the prior authorization process must be improved to better serve patients and reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for clinicians. In fact, leading health care organizations released a consensus statement to address some of the most pressing concerns associated with prior authorization.

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Establish an electronic prior authorization process for MA plans including a standardization for transactions and clinical attachments.
• Increase transparency around MA prior authorization requirements and its use.
• Clarify HHS’ authority to establish timeframes for e-prior authorization requests including   expedited determinations, real-time decisions for routinely approved items and services, and other prior authorization requests.
• Expand beneficiary protections to improve enrollee experiences and outcomes.
• Require HHS and other agencies to report to Congress on program integrity efforts and other ways to further improve the e-PA process.
• Previously, Rep. Kelly led similar legislation in the 118th Congress. The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act unanimously passed the House in the 117th Congress and was cosponsored by a majority of members in the Senate and House of Representatives. 

Text of the bill can be found here and a section-by-section can be found here.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, joined U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and 18 Senate colleagues in introducing legislation to restrict the president’s authority under the 217-year-old Insurrection Act.

The legislation would reform the centuries-old Insurrection Act that gives the president broad and vague authority to deploy troops – either with or without the request of a state – to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” The current law has been used sparingly by other presidents given the potential for the military to escalate tensions, rather than restore order, during a domestic crisis. 

“It’s clear that President Trump is unworried about defying the limits on executive power clearly outlined in our Constitution. Though he has not yet invoked the Insurrection Act, his threats to do so indicate a pressing need for congressional reform. This urgent legislation would establish the checks and balances needed to ensure that our military is deployed only in accordance with our laws and not as an instrument of personal or political power,” Sen. Warner said.

Specifically, the Insurrection Act of 2025 would:

• Narrow and clarify the criteria for the domestic deployment of military troops for law enforcement purposes;

• Specify that the use of the military is a last resort and is authorized only if the use of civilian law enforcement authorities would be insufficient.

• Clarify that the law cannot be used to suspend habeas corpus, impose martial law, or deputize private militias to act as soldiers;

• Require the president to consult with Congress prior to invoking the Insurrection Act and receive Congressional approval if the President seeks to exercise authority under the Act for longer than 7 days;

• Require a report to Congress providing an explicit justification for the use of the Insurrection Act’s authority, as enumerated in this legislation, and a full description of the scope and duration of its use;

• Provide for judicial review to ensure that individuals, or a state or local government, may bring a civil action if the president’s authority under the Insurrection Act is misused or abused.

Joining Sens. Warner, Blumenthal, Padilla, and Schiff in introducing this legislation are U.S. Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Andy Kim (D-NJ), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ). 

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WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today released the following statement:

“President Trump came into office promising to ‘end the endless foreign wars.’ Tonight, he took steps that could drag the United States into another one, without consulting Congress, without a clear strategy, without regard to the consistent conclusions of the intelligence community, and without explaining to the American people what’s at stake.

“There is no question that Iran poses a serious threat to regional stability, and the United States must remain unwavering in our commitment to Israel’s security and in ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. But launching direct military strikes without authorization from or consultation with Congress raises urgent questions: What is the president’s objective? How is he measuring success? And what’s the plan to prevent this from dragging our country into another open-ended conflict in the Middle East that costs American lives and resources for years to come?

“The Constitution makes clear that the power to authorize war lies with Congress. There are more than 40,000 U.S. servicemembers deployed across the region, as well as American diplomats, contractors, and aid workers, and the safety of our personnel must be paramount. With American lives and our national security on the line, any action that could draw the United States into a broader conflict demands transparency, accountability, and a clear strategy. So far, the president has offered none of these.

“The American people deserve more than vague rhetoric and unilateral decisions that could set off a wider war. The president must come before Congress immediately to articulate clear strategic objectives and lay out how he plans to protect American lives and ensure we are not once again drawn into a costly, unnecessary, and avoidable conflict.”

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