Senator says classified meeting with intelligence agency was canceled after criticism by far-right activist
Top Senate Intelligence Democrat says the move signals an escalation in efforts to limit congressional oversight; the cancellation followed public attacks by Laura Loomer
Sen. Mark Warner, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said a classified meeting planned with career staff at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was canceled after it drew criticism from far-right activist Laura Loomer.
Warner called the cancellation an alarming development for congressional oversight, asking Wednesday, “Is congressional oversight dead? Is she now the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence?” He described the decision as an escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to block Congress from exercising oversight over the nation’s intelligence agencies.
Warner’s office said the meeting had been scheduled as a classified discussion with career intelligence staffers at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a lesser-known element of the U.S. intelligence community that provides geospatial analysis and imagery. The planned visit was intended to review intelligence matters with agency personnel.
Laura Loomer, an activist and social media personality known for promoting conspiracy theories and extremist content, publicly criticized the planned session, and Warner tied the immediate cancellation to that criticism. Loomer has publicly taken credit for persuading the State Department to suspend visas for wounded Palestinian children seeking medical treatment in the United States and has claimed credit for certain staff changes within the administration. She has also accused officials of failing to show sufficient loyalty to former President Donald Trump.
Loomer’s online history includes racially and religiously inflammatory posts, and she once shared a video on X that asserted “9/11 was an Inside Job!” She is not a government official.
The cancellation adds to a series of disputes between congressional overseers and the administration over access to classified information and the ability of lawmakers to question agency officials. Warner framed the move as part of a broader pattern of restricting congressional inquiries into the work of intelligence agencies.
Oversight battles between Congress and the executive branch have intensified in recent years, spanning classified briefings, staff access and the scope of committee investigations. Intelligence committee members from both parties rely on confidential meetings with career staff at agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to carry out statutory oversight responsibilities.
Warner and other Democrats are likely to press further for explanations about why the meeting was canceled and who authorized the decision. Administration officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cancellation or on Loomer’s involvement. The timing of Warner’s remarks came amid ongoing disputes over access to documents and officials that have shaped relations between Congress and intelligence agencies.
The episode underscores tensions over who controls access to classified spaces and the line between private citizens’ public pressure campaigns and official decisions about congressional oversight. It also raises questions about how external criticism may influence interactions between lawmakers and career intelligence personnel that are central to the oversight role authorized by Congress.