Reuters September 8, 2004
Bush to Give Intelligence Chief More Budget Power
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under election-year pressure, President Bush agreed on Wednesday to give a new national intelligence director what he called full budgetary authority over much of the intelligence community despite initial objections.
The White House, which had balked at transferring sweeping budget authority as recommended by the Sept. 11 commission, said Bush would now support giving the new director control over funding for the National Foreign Intelligence Program, which includes at least half of the $40 billion intelligence budget.
But the White House stopped short of agreeing to grant the new intelligence director the sweeping powers to hire and fire top intelligence officials. The White House said the director would play a role in the selection process and that agencies would need the director's "concurrence" for key appointments.
"We believe that there ought to be a national intelligence director who has full budgetary authority. We'll talk to members of Congress about how to implement that," Bush said at a meeting with U.S. congressional leaders.
Democrats said the White House offered too few details to judge what "full budgetary authority" would entail.
John Pike, a defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, called it "murky at this point," adding, "I think we're going to have to read the fine print here."
The White House said the new director would have the authority to "transfer or reprogram" funds within the National Foreign Intelligence Program, which includes all of the CIA and several major Defense Department programs, including part of the National Security Agency, which eavesdrops on global electronic communications.
But the White House would keep the National Security Agency, as well as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office, under the Department of Defense to avoid "disruption of the war effort."
Democrats have accused Bush of dragging his feet on setting up the position nearly three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and not giving it sufficient spending authority to direct the operations of 15 agencies that gather intelligence.
"If George W. Bush were serious about intelligence reform, he'd stop taking half-measures," said Rand Beers, national security adviser to the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Kerry has endorsed all the measures recommended by the Sept. 11 commission.
Last month, Bush backed the commission's call for creating a national intelligence director, but the White House said at the time that the new director would have limited managerial powers and "input" -- rather than control -- over funding.
In a joint statement, Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins and ranking Democrat Joseph Lieberman welcomed Bush's commitment to provide the intelligence director with "significant budget powers."
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California complained there has been "too much delay."
Revamping U.S. spy agencies is expected to dominate Congress in the run-up to the Nov. 2 elections.
Senate Republican leader Bill Frist said he hoped to deliver a bill to Bush by Oct. 8. House Republican leader Tom DeLay only promised to review the reform proposals.
The Sept. 11 commission found major failures in intelligence gathering and sharing information before the hijacked commercial airliners slammed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing almost 3,000.
Legislation introduced on Tuesday by key lawmakers, including Lieberman, would give the new director control over most of the roughly $40 billion intelligence budget. The Pentagon now controls about 80 percent of that money.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and some of Bush's other top advisers had raised objections to such a sweeping shift.
Last month, Bush expanded the power of the CIA director to set national intelligence priorities.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Donna Smith)
© Copyright 2004, Reuters
