Congress & the CIA

This is a study of the CIA’s relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004 – the era of the DCIs. When Congress created a new position in December 2004 – the director of national intelligence – to supersede the director of central intelligence (DCI) as head of the US Intelligence Community, it necessarily changed the dynamic between the CIA and the Congress. While the director of the Agency would continue to represent its interests on Capitol Hill, he or she would no longer speak as the head of US intelligence. While 2008 is too early to assess how this change will affect the Agency’s relationship with Congress, it is safe to say it will never be quite the same.