GOP senators express disappointment over reported Waltz resignation

Republican senators expressed disappointment Thursday over reports that national security adviser Mike Waltz would be stepping down from his post after he became embroiled in a controversy over inadvertently sharing sensitive information with a reporter on Signal, a commercial app.

“He did a very good job as national security adviser. It’s the prerogative of the president to decide who his team will be, but I was sorry to see that news,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said Waltz’s departure is “a pretty significant modification” and “a pretty significant change” to President Trump’s national security team.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he wanted to learn more about the circumstances of Waltz’s resignation before commenting on the matter.

“I’m not going to react because I heard it during the hearing, I don’t know any context,” he said.

CBS News, CNN and The Wall Street Journal, all citing multiple sources, reported Waltz is expected to depart the administration in coming days.

Waltz is said to be the person who inadvertently invited Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, to the chat in which national security and defense officials were sharing key details of a military strike in Yemen.

Many Republican senators thought Waltz was a good fit for the job, with one GOP lawmaker telling The Hill “he had a very good background.”

Waltz graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and later served as a special forces officer and was awarded four Bronze Stars.

Waltz, a former member of the House, served on the China Task Force during his career in Congress and is viewed as a China hawk.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who views China “as the biggest challenge we have,” said he hopes Trump will appoint someone with similar views to replace Waltz.

But he acknowledged the national security adviser serves at the pleasure of the president.

“There’s one guy whose opinion matters most and that’s the president of the United States and I think all those folks serve at the pleasure of the president, which means you may not be there as long as you thought you would,” he said.