Project 2025 Part 6 Intelligence Community

Project 2025 Part 6

Section 2: The Common Defense

Chapter 7.  Intelligence Community

From the Overview

“An incoming conservative President needs to use these intelligence authorities aggressively…A future President’s ability to drive the resources needed to defeat another nation-state giant should therefore be the focus of near-term IC reforms.”

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE (ODNI)

“A conservative President must decide how to empower an individual to oversee and manage the Intelligence Community effectively.”

“To be successful, the DNI and ODNI must be able to lead the IC and implement the President’s intelligence priorities.”

“The ODNI needs to direct… the other IC agencies’ analytic, operational, and management functions…”

“IC leadership must address the widely promoted “woke” culture that has spread throughout the federal government.”

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12333

“Executive Order 12333 should be amended to take account of the changing landscape of threats and improve the functional aspects of America’s intelligence enterprise…”

Address the threats to the United States and its allies in cyberspace.

“Under the DNI’s direction, the cyber mission should explicitly identify how information in the cyber domain will be shared promptly with the warfighters, from law enforcement agencies to the broader IC and state, local, and tribal elements. The order should consider stipulating what to do with DOD cyber agencies, most notably the NSA…”

Enhance the DNI’s role in overseeing execution of the National Intelligence Program budget under the President’s authority.

“The DNI should have the President’s direction to address emerging but catastrophic threats… “

“It will probably be necessary to hold IC leadership accountable at intransigent agencies and to restructure areas through executive orders in close conjunction with OMB, as needed.”

Clarify the DNI’s role as leader of the IC as an enterprise in building the

“…the DNI should appoint the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI) as chairman to prioritize and promote accountability for the IC’s 18 agencies…”

Prioritize security clearance reform.

“As executive agent for security clearances, the DNI must require results…it is unacceptable for agencies to hinder opportunities for…constraints on the transferability of security clearances…”

Ensure the DNI’s authority.

“An incoming conservative President will appoint whomever he chooses as DNI…”

Provide additional support for such economic and supply chain– focused agencies as the Department of Commerce

“The success of any DNI rests with support from the President. Any revised Executive Order 12333 must serve to express unequivocal support for the DNI…”.

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA)

“…the President's election sets a new agenda for the country. Public servants must be mindful that they are required to help the President implement that agenda…”

Executing the Mission.

“Decisive senior leaders must commit to carrying out the President’s agenda…”

“The President-Elect should choose a Deputy Director who, without needing Senate confirmation, can immediately begin to implement the President’s agenda. This includes halting all current hiring to prevent he “burrowing in” of outgoing political personnel.”

“The Director and Deputy Director should request briefings on all CIA activities and presence overseas, as well as any CIA-controlled access programs and existing covert action findings, without exception.”

“The Director and Deputy Director should meet with all directorates and mission centers, prioritizing those that are aligned most closely with the President’s priorities and calibrating collection and operations based on the President’s intelligence requirements.”

“If senior leadership finds any program or operation to be inconsistent with the President’s agenda, the Director should immediately halt that program or operation. “

Reining in Bureaucracy.

“The President should instruct the Director to hire or promote new individuals to lead the various directorates and mission centers. This new crop of mid-level leaders should carry out clear directives from senior CIA leadership…”

Redirecting Resources.

“…the Director should divert resources from any activities that promote unnecessary and distracting social engineering.”

COVERT ACTION

“A future conservative President should…identify individuals on the transition team who are familiar with the implementation of covert action with a view to placing them in key NSC, CIA, ODNI, and DOD positions.”

“Immediately after the inauguration, the President should task the NSC’s Senior Director for Intelligence Programs with conducting a 60-day review…evaluating new covert actions that might be needed to implement the President’s foreign policy goals…”

ODNI AND CIA ORGANIZATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

“The Director should handpick qualified, properly cleared personnel for front-office and managerial leadership positions, such as the DNI’s Chief of Staff and heads of Legislative Affairs and Strategic Communications, to oversee those divisions with career IC staff reporting to them.”

“human resources and talent management systems for onboarding purposes at the ODNI, CIA, and some other elements of the IC are fundamentally broken…”

PREVENTING THE ABUSE OF INTELLIGENCE FOR PARTISAN PURPOSES

“…the IC must restore confidence in its political neutrality to rectify the damage done by the actions of former IC leaders and personnel regarding the claims of Trump–Russia collusion following the 2016 election and the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop investigation…”

“The DNI and CIA Director should use…expedite the clearance of personnel to meet mission needs and remove IC employees who have abused their positions of trust.”

“The President should direct the DNI and the Attorney General, by direction of the respective Inspectors General and IC Analytic Ombudsman, to conduct a further audit of all IC equities of past politicization…”

“The ODNI and CIA should fire or refer for prosecution any employee who is suspected of leaking information, and penalties should include the removal of pension benefits for those who are found guilty”.

“In addition, the Department of Justice should use all of the tools at its disposal to investigate leaks and should rescind damaging guidance by Attorney General Merrick Garland that limits investigators’ ability to identify records of unauthorized disclosures of classified information to the media. “

“Military and civilian IC training should include stronger emphasis on the norm of political neutrality…at the National Intelligence University.”

“Intelligence leaders need to model norms of neutrality and respect for the decision-making authority of the President…”

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT (FISA)

“An incoming conservative President should consider reforms designed to prevent future partisan abuses of national security authority. A package of strong provisions to protect against such partisanship might include: “

“Stiffer penalties and mandatory investigations when intelligence leaks are aimed at domestic political targets,”

“Tighter controls on otherwise lawful intercepts that also collect the communications of domestic political figures,”  

“An express prohibition on politically motivated use of intelligence authorities, and Reforms to improve the accountability of the Justice Department and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.”

CHINA-FOCUSED CHANGES, REFORMS, AND RESOURCES

“A critical strategic question for an incoming Administration and IC leaders will be: How, when, and with whom do we share our classified intelligence? Understanding when to pass things to liaisons and for what purpose will be vital to outmaneuvering China in the intelligence sphere. Questions for a President will include:”

“…a future conservative President should consider what resources and information-sharing relationships could be included in an ad hoc or quasi-formal intelligence expansion (for example, with the Quad) among nations trying to counter the threat from China.”

NATIONAL COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY CENTER (NCSC)

“…a future conservative President should further empower and resource the IC by executive order or through suggested changes in the Counterintelligence Enhancement Act (CEA) “

“…a future President and DNI should amplify NCSC’s authorities and roles with respect to counterintelligence strategy, policy, outreach, and governance, including supporting necessary Joint Duty Assignments (JDA) for FBI and CIA personnel. “

“The CEA should be updated to include foreign espionage efforts aimed at universities.”

“An incoming Administration should focus NCTC on integrative tasks, many of which cannot be carried out elsewhere in the IC…”

Analytical Integrity.

“The “tradecraft” of intelligence analysis is mostly a collection of lessons learned over decades… These lessons have accumulated from;

“Failures such as the failures to warn of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the specific threat of 9/11…”

“…the IC is falling short in resourcing and in openness to dissenting opinions…”

“On election influence and other controversial issues, such as the origin of COVID-19… intelligence agencies have increasingly tended to…insert their political views into their… analytic process. “

“…a President should consistently…press the IC about its potential biases, assumptions, methodology, and sourcing.”

“With regard to election-threat analysis and politically controversial topics…Analysis should be put forward without regard to the domestic political ramifications of intelligence conclusions.”

“Obligation to Share” and Real-Time Auditing Capability.

“…the IC must adopt an “obligation to share” policy process…”

Overclassification.

“Tighter definitions and greater specificity for categories of information requiring protection. “

“More stringent policies to effect significant reductions in the number of Original Classification Authorities (OCAs).”

“Stricter accountability measures at the OCA level…an ODNI-run declassification process that is faster, nimbler, default-to-automated, and larger-scale should be a priority.”

“An incoming Administration needs to explore options to prioritize funding for innovation in declassification management…”

Broader U.S. Government and IC Intelligence Needs.

“An incoming conservative President should task his DNI and Secretary of Commerce with increasing coordination…to include additional work with private-sector expertise, granting clearances to niche sector experts and United States citizen commercial and financial partners as needed.”

Cover in the Digital Age.

“An incoming Administration will need to double down on…training so that members of the IC will have the expertise they need to operate clandestinely…”

Privacy Shield.

“An incoming conservative President should reset Europe’s expectations”

“An incoming President should ask for an immediate study of the implementation of Executive Order 14086 and suspend any provisions that unduly burden intelligence collection

President’s Daily Brief (PDB).

“An incoming conservative President should make clear what the President’s Daily Brief is and is not. The PDB should be for the President specifically, with a much narrower distribution and addressing areas of strategic concern.”

“During the transition, the future National Security Advisor, along with the DNI, should conduct a review of current PDB recipients and determine which should remain recipients when the President’s term begins.

“A future DNI determines the PDB briefer…a future President and DNI should consider a primary briefer or a rotation of briefers from other IC elements. Additionally, the entirety of the PDB staff and production should be located at ODNI.”

National Intelligence Council (NIC)

 “the incoming Administration should require that non-CIA officers comprise at least 50 percent of the NIC’s membership and that the first-among-equals NIC Chairman is an outsider from one of the three major IC agencies with reporting responsibility to the PDDNI. …give the President access to the best thinking and a variety of sources and perspectives from across the entire IC rather than from the CIA alone.”

IC Chief Information Officer.

“To ensure that procured and implemented technology and policy reflect the Administration’s agenda, the ICCIO must have the support of the DNI…”

“Transparent accounting and allocation of IT investments across the IC, including commercial cloud computing and storage (C2E)”  

“An incoming Administration should appoint the ICCIO as a primary member of the DNI staff along with the ODNI General Counsel, IC Chief Financial Officer, and ODNI Chief Operating Officer”.

“The President-Elect should require immediate reviews of the progress…in implementing encryption…for IC and Defense systems”

ODNI, CIA, and IC Technology Issues.

“The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and S&T should focus primarily on challenging technology problems.”

President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and PIAB Intelligence Oversight Board.

“The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is charged with providing the President with an independent source of advice on the IC’s effectiveness…”

The Importance of Space.

“…space has emerged as the latest warfighting domain. In response, the DNI created the Office of the Space Executive (OSX) in 2018 as an experiment to promote greater integration of IC space activities...”

Expand collaboration with partners.

“…the IC should support building international alliances with like-minded partners beyond the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing nations…”

Refocus space-related intelligence collection.

“The IC must…refocus and invest in methods that will enable it to characterize accurately the threats that already exist in space...break down barriers to information sharing and collaboration with the DOD; and embrace commercially derived capabilities…”

.As usual, more control for the President.

Thanks for reading

Bob