The White House's overhaul of intelligence-agency powers drew immediate fire Thursday from lawmakers in both parties, who complained that the administration sidelined Congress while it crafted the largest rewrite of spying authority in decades.
Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, walked out of the panel's classified meeting with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell to protest what he charged was the administration's decision not to consult Congress as it revised a Reagan-era executive order. Other Republicans also left the meeting, while three remained for the full briefing.
A White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said the administration "routinely consulted with members of Congress and their staff as we developed revisions" to the executive order.
The updated spy powers, which President George W. Bush released Thursday, give the intelligence director a stronger hand in ordering analyses, hiring and firing agency leaders and managing the acquisition of expensive programs such as new spy satellites. They also spell out, for the first time, the oversight and policy responsibilities of the intelligence director and the National Security Council regarding covert action, which will still be carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The overhaul "will have a real and lasting effect, fostering a true intelligence community," Mr. McConnell said in a statement.
The 2004 legislation that created the intelligence-director post gave it budget and hiring authorities, but left some key powers vague. That has led to endless debate in Washington over how much power the director really has. The rewrite of the executive order, in the wake of several post-9/11 intelligence-reform efforts, sought to settle some of those debates.
The order, first issued in 1981 as Executive Order 12333, is viewed as the bible of the 16 intelligence agencies, defining the authorities of each one relative to the others. The revision of the order, which Mr. McConnell launched about a year ago, prompted a series of fights among agencies that feared that changes to their authority would eat away at their power.
On Thursday, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, in a memo to CIA employees, called the revisions "a positive step." But the revised order does insert the intelligence director into activities the CIA used to control. For example, it gives the intelligence director responsibility for developing policy governing relationships with foreign intelligence services, which had been primarily a CIA role. Now, the CIA will implement the policy the intelligence director sets.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Hoekstra said he was told by intelligence officials that Mr. McConnell wanted to get Congress involved but the White House wouldn't let him. Congressional staff received their first briefing a week ago and didn't see the order until Wednesday. "They have a total disdain for Congress," Rep. Hoekstra said in an interview. "As far as this administration is concerned, the best oversight is no oversight."
If the revised order sought to bring administration policy in line with the 2004 intelligence-overhaul bill, the administration ought to have solicited congressional input, said Mr. Hoekstra, a key drafter of that bill. He said the White House's approach to this executive order is just the latest in a series of snubs to Congress on national security, including belated briefings on an Israeli bombing of an alleged Syrian nuclear facility and the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
• Executive Order 12333 as it was first issued in 19811
• The revised Executive Order 12333 2
• Further Amendments to Executive Order 12333, dated July 31, 20083
As for the substance of the new order, Rep. Hoekstra said he doesn't think the rewrite gives the intelligence director enough muscle to run U.S. intelligence.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D., Texas), chairman of the House intelligence committee, who supports the goals of the rewrite, echoed Rep. Hoekstra's concerns. "I am deeply disappointed that the president did not seek congressional or public input into this document." In the Senate, reaction was mixed. West Virginia Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the intelligence panel, wasn't bothered by the minimal congressional involvement.
The rewrite made few changes to the civil-liberties components of the 1981 order, and administration officials said they sought to bolster privacy protections where possible. For example, the attorney general, rather than the intelligence director, is primarily responsible for overseeing the collection of intelligence in the U.S.
But civil-liberties groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union are nonetheless concerned that elements of the order expand the domestic reach of intelligence agencies. "The most chilling aspect of this executive order is that the director of national intelligence can task any agency of the government to spy on you," said ACLU Washington director Caroline Frederickson.
The ACLU points to provisions that permit the intelligence director to ask nonintelligence agencies to gather information for the director. Another provision could be read to permit local governments and private companies to ask the intelligence agencies to collect information on their behalf.
Other government watchdogs said the new order appeared to guard civil liberties more than they had expected. Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said he was relieved. "I didn't see the trashing of the previous framework that I feared," he said.
Write to Siobhan Gorman at siobhan.gorman@wsj.com
