Infiltrating American Intelligence-Difficulties Inherent in the Congressional Oversight of Intelligence and the Joint Committee Model

Patrick J. Donaldson, American University, Washington College of Law

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This article was initially published in the 2010 Volume of the American Intelligence Journal. A publication of the National Military Intelligence Association.

Abstract

The structure of intelligence oversight has been debated recently as the need is seen to grow. The current structure of intelligence oversight has been rendered ineffective by partisanship and lack of area expertise. Reform of congressional oversight has proven itself necessary. There have been numerous and varied proposals on how to reform the intelligence community in recent years. However, the 9/11 Commission’s use of a single, joint committee like the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy would not function as effectively as similar examples in the past. Regardless, every proposal of the 9/11 Commission has been addressed in some form except reform of oversight, even if not as a joint committee.

Through understanding the need for oversight; current structure and flaws of congressional oversight; and the various proposals to reform oversight, Congress can be an effective safeguard against potential abuses of civil rights, civil liberties and resources in the intelligence community. In this Article, I argue for the necessity of oversight in the intelligence context to prevent serious abuses and the balance between oversight and sensitive information. I then analyze Congress’s power to review and make policy for executive branch intelligence agencies and outline the difficulties facing oversight, including: trying to oversee highly trained secret keepers and the current structure of politics and oversight. This Article then critiques proposed solutions to effective oversight reform. In the face of reform proposals, such as the 9/11 Commission’s mandate for a joint committee similar to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy used from the 1940s through the 1970s, this Article responds, not by changing the committee structure, but by consolidating jurisdiction into the existing intelligence committees and making service on those committees a desirable post. Additionally, it asserts the Government Accountability Office should have audit authority over the intelligence community, as has been debated in Congressional hearings recently.