ISTANBUL 

Senior Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees alleged Thursday that the Trump administration is weakening and politicizing the country's spy agencies, ABC News reported.

Sen. Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the administration has pushed out experienced intelligence officials and cut key programs, leaving the US more vulnerable to foreign disinformation and cyberthreats.

“We are watching, in real time, an administration strip away the guardrails that have protected this country for generations,” Warner said.

The critique comes as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defends her decision to revoke security clearances for 37 current and former officials, arguing that earlier administrations misused intelligence for political aims.

Separately, House Democrats Jim Himes and Joaquin Castro pressed Gabbard for answers on the international consequences of recent US missile strikes on boats, which Washington claims were linked to drug cartels.

The lawmakers noted reports that several key partners—including Colombia, the UK, and the Netherlands—have begun scaling back certain types of intelligence cooperation in response.

A spokesperson for Gabbard pointed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent comments underscoring strong US partnerships and dismissing reports of reduced British intelligence sharing as a “false story.”