Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, addressed critical national security failures on CBS's "Face the Nation" March 15, 2026.
Warner blamed FBI leadership under Director Kash Patel for diverting nearly one-third of counterterrorism agents to immigration enforcement-leaving gaps that contributed to the Old Dominion University attack. A convicted ISIS supporter shot and killed an Army ROTC instructor in Norfolk, Virginia.
On Iran, Warner called the U.S. military campaign a "war of choice" with four stated objectives-regime change, uranium elimination, missile destruction, and naval degradation-none of which he assessed as achieved. He criticized the decision to reject Ukrainian drone support and confirmed the Strait of Hormuz is now partially mined.
Warner confirmed a U.S. strike killed nearly 200 people at an elementary school in Minab, Iran-a tragedy stemming from outdated targeting intelligence. The school was adjacent to a military base, but Warner stressed that proximity does not excuse the error. He demanded a full, impartial investigation into whether the failure originated with CENTCOM or the Defense Intelligence Agency.
He also condemned the Senate’s fourth failure to pass Homeland Security funding-leaving TSA agents unpaid, FEMA unfunded, and CISA and Coast Guard personnel in limbo. Warner urged bipartisan agreement to fund all DHS agencies except ICE while reforms remain unresolved.