Two Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. John Cornyn John CornynHillicon Valley: Productivity, fatigue, cybersecurity emerge as top concerns amid pandemic | Facebook critics launch alternative oversight board | Google to temporarily bar election ads after polls close Lawmakers introduce legislation to boost cybersecurity of local governments, small businesses On The Trail: Making sense of this week's polling tsunami MORE (R-Texas) and Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Poll: 57 percent of Americans think next president, Senate should fill Ginsburg vacancy On The Trail: Making sense of this week's polling tsunami MORE (R-Maine), are warning President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE not to fire intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.

The New York Times reported Tuesday afternoon that Trump has discussed firing Atkinson because the intelligence official found a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky credible and took action to advance it.

ADVERTISEMENT

Atkinson raised the profile and impact of the complaint by classifying it as “an urgent concern,” which then required the director of national intelligence to review the complaint and share it with the congressional oversight committees.

Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday said firing Atkinson in response to his actions would not be a wise move.

Asked if Trump should fire Atkinson, Cornyn said “no” and added, “I think it would be counterproductive.”

Cornyn added that he had only heard that the president was thinking about firing Atkinson from reporters and he had not received any confirmation from sources in the administration.

Collins said she had “absolutely no idea” whether Trump in fact has considered firing Atkinson but warned it would be a mistake.

“It’s obviously something that I would oppose. I have a lot of regard for the inspector general and believe that he did what he thought was right,” she said.

Sen. Mark Warner Mark Robert WarnerFBI director casts doubt on concerns over mail-in voting fraud Democrats call for declassifying election threats after briefing by Trump officials It's time to upgrade benefits MORE (Va.), the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that firing Atkinson would be an “abuse of power.”

“It’s hard to imagine a clearer abuse of power than firing the Inspector General simply because he did his job and followed the law, instead of covering up accusations of wrongdoing against the President,” Warner tweeted Tuesday afternoon.