Issue Summary
The U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) consists of 18 organizations, such as the intelligence components of the five military services within the Department of Defense (DOD) as well as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). These organizations independently and collaboratively gather, analyze, and produce the intelligence necessary to conduct foreign relations and national security activities. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which heads the IC, works to ensure that things like standards, processes, and tools across the community are consistent and efficient.
The U.S. Intelligence Community
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However, the IC could improve how it manages its workforce, supports military operations, and manages its intelligence infrastructure.
For example:
- Personnel vetting. The government's security clearance (which is on the High Risk List) and other "personnel vetting" processes help ensure that federal employees are trustworthy. Personnel vetting decisions are supposed to be reciprocal: if one agency clears an employee, that employee should be able to transfer to another agency without a new background check. But the Offices of Personnel Management and the Director of National Intelligence—who oversee the vetting processes—don't have good data on how often this works.
- Intelligence oversight and management. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis leads the department’s “Intelligence Enterprise”—which includes relevant offices within DHS components, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Protective Service. The office performs strategic oversight and helps ensure DHS components coordinate their intelligence and related activities. However, this office hasn’t consistently completed some of its oversight tasks. For example, it didn’t finish an Intelligence Enterprise budget until 2024, even though it had been required by policy since 2013.
- Use of satellites. Commercial satellite companies can play a key role in providing imagery and data critical to national security issues. For example, the war in Ukraine has drawn attention to how governments are using commercial satellites to track troop movement and the impact of attacks. The IC and DOD, however, have a slow and cumbersome approach to incorporating emerging commercial capabilities. Until they address this, the U.S. risks losing a technological advantage over emerging competitors, like China.
