Legislative committee
The
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
(sometimes referred to as the
Intelligence Committee
or
SSCI
) is dedicated to overseeing the
United States Intelligence Community
?the agencies and bureaus of the
federal government of the United States
that provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The Committee was established in 1976 by the 94th Congress.
[1]
The Committee is "select" in that membership is temporary and rotated among members of the chamber.
[2]
The committee comprises 15 members. Eight of those seats are reserved for one majority and one minority member of each of the following committees:
Appropriations
,
Armed Services
,
Foreign Relations
, and
Judiciary
.
[3]
Of the remaining seven, four are members of the majority, and three are members of the minority.
[3]
In addition, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader are non-voting
ex officio
members of the committee.
[3]
Also, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed Services (if not already a member of the select Committee) are
ex officio
members.
[4]
As part of its oversight responsibilities, the Committee performs an annual review of the intelligence budget submitted by the president and prepares legislation authorizing appropriations for the various civilian and military agencies and departments comprising the intelligence community. These entities include the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
,
Central Intelligence Agency
,
Defense Intelligence Agency
,
National Security Agency
,
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
,
National Reconnaissance Office
, as well as the intelligence-related components of
Department of State
,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
,
Department of the Treasury
, and
Department of Energy
.
The Committee makes recommendations to the Senate Armed Services Committee on authorizations for the intelligence-related components of the
U.S. Army
,
U.S. Navy
,
U.S. Air Force
, and
U.S. Marine Corps
. The Committee also conducts periodic investigations, audits, and inspections of intelligence activities and programs.
History
[
edit
]
The Select Committee on Intelligence was preceded by the
Church Committee
(1975). Senator
Daniel K. Inouye
(D-Hawaii) became the first chairman of the committee when it was established until 1979.
[5]
On July 8, 2004, the committee issued the
Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq
, and on June 5, 2008, it issued a long-delayed portion of its "phase two" investigative report, which compared the prewar public statements made by top Bush administration officials to justify the invasion with the intelligence information that was available to them at that time.
[6]
In a March 6, 2008, letter to the Senate leadership, 14 of the 15 then members of the Committee proposed the creation of a new Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Intelligence to prepare the annual intelligence budget.
[7]
The proposed Subcommittee, on which members of the Intelligence Committee would be heavily represented, would increase the Committee's influence and leverage over
executive branch
intelligence agencies, and require continuing disclosure of the annual budget for the National Intelligence Program. The proposal has been opposed by the leadership of the
Senate Appropriations Committee
, however.
[8]
In 2013, and beyond, the SSCI received renewed attention in the wake of
Edward Snowden
's disclosures regarding the
NSA
surveillance of communications. Senator
Dianne Feinstein
and the SSCI made several statements on the matter, one of which was notably disputed: that the
NSA
tracked US citizens' locations via cellphone. Later, the SSCI Staff Director, David Grannis, claimed that the NSA did not collect cellphone location, claiming the Senator was "speaking extemporaneously".
[9]
The SSCI later came to prominence in relation to voting to publish in March 2014
[10]
and then publishing in December 2014 of a
report on the policies of the CIA on torture
.
In 2017, the SSCI began investigating
Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
, possible incriminating links between members of the Russian government and members of
Donald Trump
's presidential campaign team, and the security of election processes in the United States.
[11]
On April 21, 2020, the SSCI (chaired at the time by the Republican
Richard Burr
) released a much redacted report
[12]
[13]
[14]
with its final judgment that the intelligence community's assessment was "coherent and well-constructed"; the SSCI therefore supports the intelligence community's claim that Putin's "interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election" in favor of candidate Trump was unprecedented in its "manner and aggressiveness". Nevertheless, no direct evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia was found.
[15]
[16]
In 2018, the SSCI Director of Security
James Wolfe
was arrested and convicted of lying to the FBI on the leak of classified documents to a reporter with whom he was in an affair.
[17]
On May 14, 2020, Senator Burr, who oversaw the probe on Russian interference in the 2016 election, stepped down as SSCI chair due to an
ongoing investigation regarding insider trading
by Senator Burr during the
COVID-19 pandemic
.
[18]
Senator McConnell announced on May 18, 2020 that
Marco Rubio
would replace Burr temporarily.
[19]
Members, 118th Congress: January 3, 2023 ? January 3, 2025
[
edit
]
Majority
[20]
|
Minority
[21]
|
- Mark Warner
, Virginia,
Chairman
- Dianne Feinstein
, California (until September 29, 2023)
- Ron Wyden
, Oregon
- Martin Heinrich
, New Mexico
- Angus King
, Maine
[22]
- Michael Bennet
, Colorado
- Bob Casey
, Pennsylvania
- Kirsten Gillibrand
, New York
- Jon Ossoff
, Georgia
- Mark Kelly
, Arizona (from October 17, 2023)
[23]
|
|
Ex officio
|
|
|
Historical committee membership
[
edit
]
117th Congress: January 3, 2021 - January 3, 2023
[
edit
]
Majority
|
Minority
|
|
|
Ex officio
|
|
|
116th Congress: January 3, 2019 ? January 3, 2021
[
edit
]
Majority
|
Minority
|
- Richard Burr
, North Carolina,
Chairman
(until May 15, 2020)
- Marco Rubio
, Florida,
Acting Chairman
(from May 18, 2020)
[19]
- Jim Risch
, Idaho
- Susan Collins
, Maine
- Roy Blunt
, Missouri
- Tom Cotton
, Arkansas
- John Cornyn
, Texas
- Ben Sasse
, Nebraska
|
|
Ex officio
|
|
|
Source: Member list
[24]
115th Congress: January 3, 2017 ? January 3, 2019
[
edit
]
Majority
|
Minority
|
|
|
Ex officio
|
|
|
Source: Member List
[26]
Chairs
[
edit
]
Staff directors
[
edit
]
- Christopher Joyner, 2015?2022
- David Grannis, 2009?2014
- Andy Johnson, 2004?2008
- Alfred Cumming, 2000?2003
- George Tenet
, 1989?1993
- Nicholas Rostow, 1999-2000
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Snider, L. Britt (2008).
The Agency & The Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004, Chapter 2
(PDF)
. CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on May 14, 2008
. Retrieved
June 19,
2008
.
- ^
Kaiser, Frederick (September 16, 2008).
"Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Current Structure and Alternatives"
. Congressional Research Service
. Retrieved
April 23,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Committee on Intelligence" from
Riddick's Senate Procedure
- ^
"Rules of Procedure"
(PDF)
.
U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on March 31, 2017
. Retrieved
March 30,
2017
.
- ^
"INOUYE, Daniel Ken - Biographical Information"
.
United States Congress
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
Mazzetti, Mark; Shane, Scott (June 6, 2008).
"Bush Overstated Iraq Evidence, Senators Report"
.
The New York Times
. p. A1
. Retrieved
June 17,
2008
.
- ^
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (March 6, 2008).
"Letter to Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
April 14,
2008
.
- ^
Senate Appropriations Committee (April 5, 2008).
"Letter to Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
April 14,
2008
.
- ^
Ali Watkins.
"Senate intelligence committee director denies NSA collects data on Americans' cellphone locations"
. McClatchy Washington Bureau.
- ^
"Statement on SSCI Vote for Declassification of Torture Report"
. OpenTheGovernment.org. April 3, 2014.
- ^
Tau, Byron (February 8, 2018).
"Senate Intelligence Committee Writing Report on Election Vulnerabilities Ahead of Midterms"
.
WSJ
. Retrieved
March 15,
2018
.
- ^
116th Congress, 1st Session.
"Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election. Vol. 4: Review of the Intelligence Community Assessment with Additional Views"
(PDF)
.
www.intelligence.senate.gov
. Retrieved
April 21,
2020
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Dilanian, Ken (April 21, 2020).
"Bipartisan Senate report says 2017 intel assessment about Russian interference and Trump was accurate"
.
NBC News
. Retrieved
April 22,
2020
.
- ^
Johnson, Kevin; Phillips, Kristine (April 21, 2020).
"Senate committee backs intelligence agencies' findings that Russia meddled in 2016 election"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
April 22,
2020
.
- ^
Johnson, Kevin; Phillips, Kristine (April 21, 2020).
"Senate committee backs intelligence agencies' findings that Russia meddled in 2016 election"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
April 22,
2020
.
- ^
Knutson, Jacob (April 21, 2020).
"Senate Intel affirms that Russia interfered to help Trump in 2016"
.
Axios
. Retrieved
April 22,
2020
.
- ^
Ming, Chang (June 7, 2018).
"Former Senate staffer indicted for allegedly lying to FBI about contact with reporters"
.
CNBC
. Retrieved
May 14,
2020
.
FBI officials involved in that leaks investigation approached the reporter,
Ali Watkins
, about a romantic relationship she had with Wolfe
- ^
Barrett, Devlin (May 14, 2020).
"Sen. Richard Burr stepping aside as Intelligence Committee chair amid FBI investigation of his stock sales"
.
Washington Post
. Retrieved
May 14,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Lesniewski, Niels (May 18, 2020).
"Rubio named acting Senate Intelligence chairman"
.
Roll Call
. Retrieved
May 19,
2020
.
- ^
S.Res. 30
(118th Congress)
- ^
S.Res. 31
(118th Congress)
- ^
a
b
c
Angus King is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
- ^
"Majority Leader Schumer Announces New Senate Democratic Committee Assignments"
.
Senate Democrats
. October 17, 2023
. Retrieved
October 18,
2023
.
- ^
"Committee Members"
. U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
. Retrieved
August 29,
2019
.
- ^
Angus King is an independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
- ^
"115th Congress (2017-2018) | Intelligence Committee"
.
www.intelligence.senate.gov
. Retrieved
January 5,
2017
.
External links
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