TPMDC House Intelligence Committee
David Petraeus
Feinstein, Petraeus Say Wartime Contractors Must Go
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
After the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the intelligence community, consisting of everything from the CIA to the Homeland Security Department, is outsourcing too much of its work to private contractors and is breaking a pledge to reduce the number of private contractors hired to help conduct, collect and analyze information.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who chairs the Intelligence Committee, pointed out the broken promise at a hearing Tuesday, noting that the intelligence community is not living up to a commitment to reduce private contractors by 5 percent a year.
"We had an agreement in 2009 to reduce [intelligence community] contractor numbers by 5 percent a year, but it's clear that progress has not been maintained and sufficient cuts are not being made," Feinstein told a joint-hearing of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to assess progress in U.S. intelligence gathering and analysis over the last ten years.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Blackwater Worldwide, Commission on Wartime Contracting, David Petraeus, Dianne Feinstein, House Intelligence Committee, Senate intelligence committee, director of national intelligence
Navy Seals
Sen. Ayotte: I've Seen A Photo Of Slain Bin Laden
US Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Update at 3:47 p.m.: Sen. Saxby Chambliss' office says he didn't show Ayotte the photo and he has not seen it himself.
Amid reports that the White House will not release a photo of a slain Osama bin Laden, a photo of bin Laden is circulating among some senators.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) tells TPM another senator showed her a photo of a deceased bin Laden with the understanding that it was an authentic photo the Navy Seals took of him after he was killed.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, House Intelligence Committee, Kelly Ayotte, Mike Rogers, Navy Seals, Osama Bin Laden, Saxby Chambliss, Senate, Senate intelligence committee
Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers Named Chair Of Intelligence Committee
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), a former FBI agent who helped write the Patriot Act, has been chosen to chair the House Intelligence Committee.
"Speaker-designate Boehner's confidence to appoint me to serve in such a critical position for America's national security is humbling," Rogers said in a statement. "It will be an incredible responsibility to serve as chairman as we work to get the oversight, policy, and funding right to provide our nation's intelligence professionals with the tools and support they need."
Some notable moments from Rogers:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers
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