WATCH: Gabbard and Warner clash over Trump Cabinet group chat on military plans

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard clashed Tuesday over whether an apparent group chat discussion of plans for an attack on Yemen’s Houthis included classified material.

The text chain, in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen, reportedly included Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who both testified in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee a day after the discussion was reported.

“If this was a rank and file intelligence officer who did this kind of careless behavior, what would you do with them?” Warner asked Gabbard during the hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“I'll reiterate that there was no classified material that was shared,” Gabbard responded.

"If there's no classified materials, then answer -- you can't even answer the question [of] whether you were on the chat," Warner said.

In the time since the group chat was reported, national security experts and lawmakers have expressed concern about the major lapse in security.

When asked by reporters about the communications around the plans late Monday, Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans.”

Among those testifying in the hearing, which covered worldwide threats, were FBI Director Kash Patel, NSA Director Timothy Haugh and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse.

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