Keep Senate confirmation for top intelligence lawyers, civil liberties groups urge

A coalition of civil liberties groups is asking congressional intelligence committees to preserve measures that would require the top lawyers of the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to be confirmed by the Senate before taking up their posts.

The proposed Intelligence Authorization Act of 2026 amends the language of the roles for general counsel of CIA and ODNI so that they no longer need Senate confirmation, instead allowing the respective directors of the spy agencies to tap them immediately for the positions.

The groups, which include American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy & Technology and the Center for Victims of Torture, argue that stripping the confirmation rules would reduce legal accountability and oversight of the nation’s spy agencies.

“The general counsels of the CIA and ODNI wield extraordinary influence, and they do so entirely in secret, shaping policies on surveillance, detention, interrogation and other highly consequential national security matters,” they wrote in the letter sent Friday and addressed to the top Republican and Democratic leaders on the Senate and House intelligence committees.

“Moreover, they are the ones primarily responsible for determining the boundaries of what these agencies may lawfully do. The scope of this power and the fact that it occurs outside of public view is why Senate confirmation is so important,” it adds.

The letter contends that general counsels of other U.S. national security elements — including the departments of Defense and Homeland Security — require Senate confirmation. The CIA and ODNI “should not be held to a lower standard of scrutiny” especially given past overreaches connected to those agencies, the missive argues.

Top-of-mind episodes include revelations of the CIA’s post-9/11 torture programs, which tarnished the agency’s reputation for years. In 2007, Senate scrutiny of John A. Rizzo’s nomination to serve as CIA general counsel led the Bush White House to withdraw his name after lawmakers objected to his lack of opposition to Justice Department memos that authorized the agency’s use of extreme torture methods, including waterboarding. 

The civil liberties orgs also argue that the general counsels play a key role in oversight of Section 702, a contested surveillance power that’s up for debate again this April. The measure, part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows spy agencies to gather communications data on foreign targets abroad without the need of a court warrant. But the law also permits inadvertent collection of data on U.S. persons, which privacy groups argue creates an end-run around Fourth Amendment protections.

It’s not clear if the proposed removal of Senate confirmation would remain in place. The Senate and House are currently conferencing to resolve differences in the legislation, a spokesperson for the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee told Nextgov/FCW. The bill is considered annually to authorize funding, programs and oversight of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.