Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on foreign cyber threats to the United States, including the Russian hacking in the 2016 US presidential election, a committee aide told CNN.
McCain has invited James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Mike Rogers, Director of the National Security Agency, and Marcel Lettre, the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, according to the aide.
The hearing announcement comes a day after President Barack Obama issued new sanctions against Russia and expelled 35 diplomats in response to the Administration’s findings that Russia engaged in cyberattacks designed to interfere in the election.
Congress returns next week to kick off the new session and a busy calendar of confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees, but the issue of the Russian hacking is one where Trump finds himself at odds with leaders of his own party.
Trump is scheduled to meet for the first time next week with top leaders of the Intelligence agencies. The President-elect has said it’s time to “move on,” but McCain and other top Hill leaders have vowed to press legislation next year on sanctions in addition to the those announced by Obama this week.
Politico first reported on the hearing.
