Intelligence Reform Implementation at the Federal Bureau of Investigation: Issues and Options for Congress

Publication Date: August 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Military and defense

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Abstract:

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) embarked on a program to reform its intelligence and national security programs. In the nearly four years since 9/11 many experts agree the FBI has made progress in some areas (dissemination of raw intelligence), but some believe that the FBI has shown little progress in other areas (establishing an integrated and proactive intelligence program) while the FBI's budget increased by 68% from FY2000 to FY2005. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission has recommended, and the White House has approved, the establishment of a National Security Service within the FBI. This Service would integrate the FBI's Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence Divisions with the FBI's Directorate of Intelligence (DI). Whether this organizational change will yield substantive results is an open question.

There are at least two schools of thought with respect to how the FBI has performed in implementing its intelligence reform initiatives. The "optimists" believe there is a critical synergy between the law enforcement and intelligence disciplines, and that the FBI has successfully made changes throughout its history to respond to the threats of the time. Since the FBI's vision for intelligence reform is sound, success is simply a matter of implementing that vision. Alternatively, the "skeptics" believe that law enforcement and intelligence are distinct disciplines demanding different skill sets to achieve different ends. They argue the FBI's vision is fundamentally unsound, and its ongoing implementation has not yielded an integrated intelligence program. According to this group, intelligence collection remains effectively separated from intelligence analysis at the FBI.

This report analyzes the FBI's overall intelligence reform effort, focusing on the implementation of intelligence reform initiatives in the field. Reform policies designed at FBI Headquarters, with field input, may be of marginal utility unless they are fully and effectively implemented across the 56 FBI field offices. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) examined the FBI's reform initiatives with a focus on the implementation of the field intelligence group concept, at five field offices. Allowing for varying levels of progress across field offices, a central tenet of a high-order functioning intelligence organization is its ability to harness collection resources to nationally developed intelligence priorities and gaps. While areas of promise exist, field research indicates that the FBI's ability to formally harness intelligence collection (including systemic accountability mechanisms) to analytically identified intelligence gaps, remains nascent.

In addition, this report discusses several overall options for Congress in addressing FBI intelligence reform. Organizationally and structurally, Congress could establish a stand-alone domestic intelligence agency. Alternatively, it could codify the recently announced National Security Service within the FBI. Potential areas are outlined for functional oversight, including the FBI-CIA relationship, and the FBI's efforts to stanch terrorism finance. And finally, the report reviews options for addressing the FBI's intelligence budget, both at the strategic and tactical levels.