ODNI (Office of the Director of National Intelligence)

Founding

In its report of July 2004 the 9/11 Commission recommended, among other things, creating the post of Director of National Intelligence. Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which President Bush signed on 17 December 2004.¹

In February 2005 the President nominated John D. Negroponte, the ambassador to Iraq, as the first Director of National Intelligence; General Michael V. Hayden became the first Principal Deputy. They were sworn in on 21 April 2005, and the ODNI began operating at 7 a.m. the following day.¹

Role

The ODNI describes itself as a senior-level office overseeing the intelligence community; the idea of separating the running of the CIA from the coordination of intelligence as a whole goes back to a 1955 study.¹

The ODNI also publishes explanatory material on intelligence concepts, which the SpyOps.pl glossary draws on.^2,3

Legal basis

Under 50 U.S.C. § 3023, added by the Act of 17 December 2004, the Director of National Intelligence is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate; the nominee is to have extensive national security expertise, and the office may not be located within the Executive Office of the President.⁴

The Director heads the intelligence community, acts as the principal adviser on intelligence to the President, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, and oversees the National Intelligence Program.⁴

The intelligence community

An archived ODNI page lists the 18 elements of the community: the ODNI, the CIA, the NSA, the DIA, the FBI, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the intelligence branches of the armed services (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force), and the intelligence units of the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, State and the Treasury, and of the Drug Enforcement Administration.⁵

The ODNI describes itself as a senior-level agency overseeing the community, primarily a staff organisation by nature.⁵

Congressional oversight

In the Senate, intelligence activities are overseen by the Select Committee on Intelligence (since 1976), set up after the work of the Church Committee.⁶