My friend Siobhan Gorman at the Wall Street Journal -- who, for my money, is the best intelligence reporter in the business -- breaks a big story this morning:
“„The overhaul gives the intelligence director a greater role in hiring and firing agency heads, authority to remove barriers to intelligence sharing, and the responsibility for overseeing the acquisition of expensive programs such as new spy satellites, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. It also hands the intelligence director more power to direct midlevel intelligence officers.
“„The revised order also gives the director the responsibility for developing policy governing relationships with foreign intelligence services, which had been handled primarily by the Central Intelligence Agency. Under the updated order, the CIA would be in charge of implementing the policy set by the intelligence director.
“„The revised order says covert action will be run by the National Security Council at the White House, carried out by the CIA and overseen by the intelligence director.