Intelligence Community Programs: Management, Operations and Spending

This book is a compilation of CRS reports on the intelligence community. Congress's and the American public's ability to oversee and understand how intelligence dollars are spent is limited by the secrecy that surrounds the intelligence budget process. Chapter 1 is designed to shed light on the IC budget-in terms of its programs, management, and enduring issues-using unclassified materials available in the public domain. Chapter 2 focuses on cross-cutting management issues that affect the Intelligence Community's (IC's) ability to counter 'pervasive and emerging threats' to the United States and balance resources both appropriately and wisely. The next chapter reports on the use of contractors within the intelligence community. Chapter 4 provides the names and appointment provisions for selected Intelligence Community (IC) senior officials. Chapter 5 summarizes dates and directives for the establishment of each of the 17 IC component organizations. IC Directive 116, Intelligence Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Evaluation System provides guidance for the IPPBE process. The IPPBE process applies to all 17 IC components as discussed in chapter 6. Chapter 7 differentiates clandestine from covert, using clandestine to signify the tactical concealment of the activity and covert operations as 'planned and executed to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor.' The next chapter builds on the notification requirements and the different authorities of the U. S. Code need for covert action and clandestine activities. Chapter 9 posits a potential framework for congressional oversight of intelligence-related programs and activities using the existing committee structure and notification standards for the most sensitive intelligence activities: covert action and clandestine intelligence collection. Total intelligence spending is usually understood as the combination of the National Intelligence Program (NIP), which supports strategic planning and policymaking, and the Military Intelligence Program (MIP), which supports military operational and tactical levels of planning and operations as reported in chapter 10. Chapter 11 examines intelligence funding over the past several decades, with an emphasis on the period from 2007-2016.