Sponsors
The bill strengthens and stabilizes funding, operational standards, and managerial coordination across the intelligence community—improving oversight for committees and capabilities for national security—while increasing classified budgeting, concentrating certain authorities, raising privacy and civil‑liberties risks, and adding near‑term costs to taxpayers.
Federal intelligence agencies and personnel receive explicit FY2026 funding (including a $674.5M ICMA baseline and $514M for CIA retirement), preserving continuity of intelligence operations and benefit payments.
Congressional intelligence committees and the Executive get more consistent reporting, notifications, and consolidated budget/impact summaries (e.g., IC counternarcotics summary, annual budget disclosures, post‑closure notices), improving oversight and committee visibility into key intelligence activities.
The bill requires AI security playbooks, biotech senior-designations, knowledge‑management sharing, and open‑source standards that strengthen analytic tradecraft, biodefense coordination, and protection of sensitive AI-enabled systems across the IC.
Taxpayers and the public face reduced transparency because sizable intelligence budget schedules and some spending details are classified or exempted from disclosure, and the bill repeals or trims multiple statutory reporting/privacy provisions that previously gave public visibility.
Broad new collection, retention, and data‑sharing requirements (AI training on classified data, centralized knowledge systems, expanded OSINT standards, interception/temporary retention authorities) raise substantial privacy and civil‑liberties risks for U.S. persons and other communities.
The bill increases federal spending obligations (ICMA baseline, CIA retirement appropriation, supplemental pay authority, new staffing/studies) that raise taxpayer costs and could add to deficits absent offsets.
Based on analysis of 20 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes FY2026 intelligence funding, establishes a National Counterintelligence Center, strengthens OSINT roles, protects IC personnel from political‑litmus personnel actions, and requires PRC net assessments.
Introduced September 8, 2025 by Rick Crawford · Last progress September 8, 2025
Authorizes FY2026 funding and oversight rules for U.S. intelligence activities, creates a new statutory National Counterintelligence Center and adds its director to National Security Council participation, and sets multiple new requirements across the intelligence community. It requires new reporting, guidance, and organizational changes for open‑source intelligence, CIA spending notifications, counterintelligence coordination, biotechnology oversight designations, limitations on political/ideological litmus tests for personnel actions, and focused national‑security assessments of the People’s Republic of China.