Wyden Votes ‘No’ on Flawed 2027 Intelligence Authorization Act

May 22, 2026 Wyden Votes ‘No’ on Flawed 2027 Intelligence Authorization Act Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., voted against advancing the 2027 Intelligence Authorization Act out of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he announced today. “The bill is a dramatic retreat for congressional oversight, at precisely the moment when scrutiny of Intelligence Community activities is needed most,” Wyden said. “This bill would deny the U.S. Senate any opportunity to scrutinize and vet key Intelligence Community leaders. It also omits critical, bipartisan whistleblower protections that have been included in the Committee-reported bill for years. The Committee’s retreat from its long-standing bipartisan approach to whistleblower protection legislation is especially troubling during an administration that commits so many abuses.” Wyden highlighted multiple troubling provisions in the bill: Eliminates Senate confirmation for the general counsels of the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. At a time of rampant lawbreaking by the Trump Administration, it is especially troubling that the only Intelligence Community general counsels currently subject to Senate confirmation - the people responsible for offering legal advice on secret, potentially controversial intelligence activities - would be appointed without any congressional or public input or scrutiny. Eliminates Senate confirmation for the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center at a time in which the Center is expanding its activities into the realm of domestic law enforcement, particularly through the NCTC Intelligence Fusion Center, in a manner that poses a real danger to Americans’ rights. Eliminates Senate confirmation for the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, even as the bill puts the Director in charge of a new Intelligence Community Counterintelligence Office in the Department of Commerce, a wrongheaded and unnecessary expansion of the Intelligence Community. The bill also excludes a critically important provision that was included in last year’s bill that stated that, if a company wants to be an Intelligence Community contractor, it can’t also be a data broker selling the location data of intelligence officers. ### Print Email Tweet Previous Article