Greg Sargent reported today:
In a move that could spark another fight with the GOP over CIA intelligence and secrecy, House Dems are quietly preparing to make major changes to the ways the CIA briefs Congress on covert actions, by broadening the pool of members of Congress who will have access to such private briefings, a source familiar with deliberations says. Dems on the House Intelligence Committee have drafted a new bill that would strip the President of his authority to limit such briefings to the so-called “Gang of Eight” – the leaders of the House and Senate from both parties, and the leaders of the Congressional Intelligence committees – and allow a larger group of members of Congress to attend.
It’s not clear that the president would support such a move, as the new measure — which would clear some 24 members for these top secret intel briefings — would jeopardize U.S. sources, methods, and operations. We asked Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the ranking member on the House intel committee, for comment and his spokesman Jamal Ware sent over this statement:
“Republicans partnered with Democrats to address this issue in the intelligence bill last year. Why does it need to be redone? Rather than adopt the bipartisan provision agreed to by the committee, this is an ill-considered, partisan attempt to address a political problem. The previous bipartisan solution actually went further, stating definitely that the presumption is that all members of the committee will be briefed, while this partisan provision being put forward by the Democrats does not.”
