Many at POGO have been disappointed by the confirmation hearings in the past few weeks. While we know that several of the President's nominees have been vetted (maybe even thoroughly and well) behind closed doors, this doesn't remove the need for confirmation hearings to publicly scrutinize these designees to allow the public to know about any possible reservations that exist. Tough questions also give the nominees a chance to explain and respond to concerns raised by outside stakeholders. We think good confirmation hearings are so important that we're kicking off this year's Congressional Oversight Training Series tomorrow with a day long workshop for Congressional staff on "How the Nomination/Confirmation Process can be an Oversight Opportunity".
But I was quite impressed with the Senate Intelligence Committee's confirmation hearing of Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair. POGO's qualms with his selection is certainly no secret, so we were happy to see Senate Intelligence Chair Diane Feinstein (D-CA) kick off the hearing today by asking him about the conflict of interest POGO discovered in 2006. There should have been more follow-up questions on this point--particularly on how he could think that his activities wouldn't provide a conflict of interest, and why he continued to serve on the board of Tyco International, even after Institute of Defense Analyses (IDA) Committee members raised concerns about the company's "corporate malfeasance."
Beyond the conflict of interest issue, however, we were happy to see there was a strong emphasis on making the intelligence community more transparent and accountable. This included Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asking if Congress had the tools necessary to really hold the Director of National Intelligence accountable (Blair said no), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) raising questions about an over reliance on contractors, Feinstein chiming in on Whitehouse's point to specifically ask about contractors performing inherently governmental functions, and a general theme that the intelligence community needs to be wary of--overclassification. Both Sens. Wyden and Carl Levin (D-MI) also provided textbook examples of how to conduct oversight effectively by asking follow-up questions.
One moment that raised concerns, however, was the line of questioning from Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) that led to Blair saying he would try to prosecute leakers of classified information. We cannot urge Blair and the intelligence community enough to keep in mind the important role of whistleblowers in protecting the public interest, and the need to protect them in turn when they bring legitimate items of concern to the light. Protecting our national security is the first priority of the intelligence community, but the important role whistleblowers can play in increasing security by helping the government to be more effective should not be diminished or forgotten.
Finally, perhaps the most encouraging sign that there will be more openness in government is that the Senate Intelligence Committee has made Blair's prehearing questions available on their website.
-- Mandy Smithberger
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