House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn opens the door for Stephen Bannon to fill the void — a scenario she said she fears.

Pelosi cheered Flynn's exodus, saying he was "totally inappropriate" for the position in the first place. But Pelosi said she's also afraid the shift will lend even greater power to Bannon, President Trump's mercurial chief strategist who ascended to the National Security Council as a permanent member late last month.

"Clearly, the president exercised very poor judgment in putting in somebody that couldn't even manage himself. Thank god he is gone," Pelosi said of Flynn.

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"But my fear is now we will have, as a shadow national security adviser, Bannon. And his national security vision [will be] influencing all of the agencies of government that I mentioned, as well as advising the president.

"So this is deadly, deadly serious, what is happening now."

Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, is anathema to the left for embracing nationalist views that critics deem bigoted. Earlier in the month, Pelosi repeatedly referred to him as a "white supremacist."

Flynn resigned late Monday night after revelations that he'd misled Vice President Pence and other top White House officials about the substance of conversations he'd had with the Russian ambassador following the presidential election. Flynn had given Pence assurances that the discussion avoided talk of recently imposed U.S. sanctions on Russia, and the vice president said as much in a series of national interviews.

But following a Washington Post story on Friday, Flynn changed his tune, saying he may have broached the sanctions issue "inadvertently."

After coming under fire from lawmakers in both parties, he stepped down Monday night and was replaced by interim national security adviser Keith Kellogg, a retired general and Vietnam veteran.

House Republican leaders have largely defended the administration amid the controversy, downplaying the shakeup and rejecting the Democrats' calls for new investigations into Flynn's communications with the Russians.

Schiff said part of the investigation the Democrats want into Flynn's communications could be performed by expanding the existing Intelligence Committee probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

But the Democrats also want to create an independent panel, similar to the 9/11 Commission, to examine Trump's potential ties to the Kremlin in further depth. Flynn's resignation only reinforces the need for that probe, the Democrats contend.

"This raises more questions about the connections between Trump and Russia, not fewer," Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said Tuesday. "Removing a rotten plank doesn't fix a compromised platform. And until we get to the bottom of what were the personal, political and financial ties between Trump and his team with Russia, there's going to be a lot of questions swirling around the White House."

"Flynn was secretly communicating with Russian officials at the same time that Russia was attacking our democracy," Cummings said. "Jason Chaffetz has not lifted one finger."

Of Flynn, Cummings had a warning: "I know he's resigned, but he's not going to get off that easy."

"We need some answers to a whole lot of questions," he said.

Chaffetz said "I think that situation has taken care of itself" when asked about a potential Oversight investigation into Flynn.

The Democrats are vowing to continue to press their case — with or without Republican cooperation. They're hoping the public will become increasingly outraged as details of Flynn's Russian connections trickle out.

"The resignation of Michael Flynn was brought about, not by discovering the falsehood, but by the fact that the falsehood became public," Schiff said. "And that ought to be deeply disturbing to everyone."

Schiff said Tuesday that he an the other members of the so-called Gang of Eight — the bipartisan group of lawmakers from both chambers that are closest to the heart of national security — have not yet been briefed by intelligence officials on Flynn's communications with Russia. But he expects that conversation to happen soon.

Schiff also said the Democrats will request any transcripts and/or recordings detailing Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador.

"I hope those will be provided to us," Schiff said.

Pelosi interjected sharply: "Before they destroy them."