The CIA may be getting out of the drone business, according to a new report.
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Three senior US officials say the White House is set to sign off on a plan to shift the drone program from the CIA to the Defense Department, the Daily Beast reports.
The site says the move could strengthen the accountability and transparency of the program because of potentially tougher criteria for fatal drone strikes.
The US currently has separate drone programs in the CIA and the DOD and this move would combine the two with oversight falling to the Defense Department.
This is a major shift because the military would now have operational control of the program instead of the intelligence agency, the site reports.
“This is a big deal,” says one senior administration official who has been briefed on the plan. “It would be a pretty strong statement.”
