The push to prevent the White House from curtailing congressional oversight of the intelligence community (IC) just gained a little momentum. In a letter sent Tuesday, three Senators and six Representatives urged President Obama to support a provision of the Intelligence Authorization Act that would re-affirm the ability of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to obtain information from the IC.
From the letter:
We believe that this reaffirmation is a critical response to the IC, which has prevented GAO from executing its statutory duty as the investigatory and oversight arm of the Congress. Our constituents — the American taxpayers — suffer when the Committees of jurisdiction — including those beyond the Intelligence Committees — are not able to secure a full accounting of public funds and monitor the effective functioning of government.
It's good to see Congress stand up for itself and protect its vital responsibility to conduct oversight of the executive branch.
-- Bryan Rahija
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