Even for Senate Intelligence Committee chair, all politics is local

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At a Monitor Breakfast, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner weighed in on AI, China, and border security. Then I asked the Virginia Democrat if he’d run for reelection.

Troy Sambajon/The Christian Science Monitor

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner spoke to reporters at a Monitor Breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington on June 18, 2024.

June 24, 2024

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Washington

Late in our Monitor Breakfast on June 18 with Sen. Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I couldn’t resist asking: Will you run for reelection in 2026?

“Sorry!” I added with a chuckle, hoping to convey to the Virginia Democrat that I knew my question seemed off-topic. We had just spent most of the hour discussing the weightiest of issues – election interference, artificial intelligence, border security, TikTok, China, Russia, Israel.

But I asked Senator Warner about his plans for a reason. There’s been talk that Virginia’s fairly popular Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, might challenge him in 2026. Suddenly, too, Virginia is looking competitive in the presidential race. If the Old Dominion is edging rightward, that could affect Mr. Warner’s prospects – and suggest larger forces at play in American politics.

Predictably, the senator didn’t answer my question. But he immediately pivoted into campaign mode, touting the expertise he has built up serving on and then leading this key committee. And he alluded to his past as a successful entrepreneur in telecommunications. It’s obvious technology doesn’t scare him.

“I feel I’m adding value in this job,” Mr. Warner said, appearing at his fourth Monitor Breakfast. He’s also proud of his work with Republicans, calling his panel the Senate’s “last fully functioning bipartisan committee.”

The Virginia Democrat clearly approaches his role, and the access to classified information it entails, with the seriousness it deserves. At our breakfast, when asked about a sensitive intelligence matter, he would often pause, look up, and quietly ask himself a version of, “OK, what can I say here?”

Mr. Warner did have plenty to say. My article focused on the risk that artificial intelligence and disinformation could turn the November election into “the Wild, Wild West.” Reuters went with the senator’s point that the United States needs to “up our game” on tracking Chinese technology. The Washington Times covered Mr. Warner’s comments on a potential TikTok ban.

Watch the moment I asked Mr. Warner for his thoughts on reelection at 1:00:20 on our YouTube.

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