New counterintelligence czar gains sweeping power to direct all spy agencies

What it does

This bill authorizes $674.5 million for the Intelligence Community Management Account and $514 million for the CIA Retirement and Disability Fund in fiscal 2026, plus classified additional amounts. It establishes a new National Counterintelligence Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, consolidating counterintelligence authority under a single Senate-confirmed director who can direct, coordinate, and carry out counterintelligence activities across all intelligence agencies. The bill also mandates AI security protocols, restricts use of the DeepSeek application on intelligence systems, requires biotechnology oversight officials, and creates reporting requirements on classified data use in AI training.

Why we flagged it

The bill's primary function is structural reorganization of the intelligence community's counterintelligence apparatus, consolidating previously distributed authority into a new National Counterintelligence Center. Secondary provisions address AI security, biotechnology oversight, and classified data handling—all supporting the core counterintelligence mission.

• Sections 408–411 mandate AI security playbooks, classified data use in AI training, and technology adoption metrics—substantively unrelated to counterintelligence reorganization.
• Section 405 restricts use of specific Chinese AI application on intelligence systems—a cybersecurity/supply-chain measure distinct from counterintelligence structural reform.
• Section 406 mandates use of Transnational Organized Crime Identity Intelligence Platform and terrorism information sharing—law enforcement coordination unrelated to counterintelligence center establishment.

What the text implies

• The National Counterintelligence Center director gains authority to 'direct' intelligence agencies to carry out counterintelligence activities and to 'access all counterintelligence information'—language that may permit surveillance of U.S. persons if classified as counterintelligence without explicit statutory limits on domestic scope or judicial review requirements.
• Section 415(d) requires federal agencies to notify the director of 'any actual or potential significant unauthorized disclosure or compromise of classified national intelligence' within 7 days, creating a reporting obligation that could capture internal government dissent or whistleblowing if framed as a security breach.
• The bill permits the director to 'establish a polygraph program for counterintelligence purposes' without defining what activities qualify, potentially enabling expanded polygraph screening of federal employees beyond traditional security clearance contexts.
• Section 413(a)(6) authorizes embedding liaison officers designated by the director within each intelligence agency element—a structural change that may enable the director to monitor or influence internal agency operations without formal oversight.
• The classified Schedule of Authorizations (Section 102) specifies actual funding amounts but is withheld from public view, preventing citizens and most Congress members from knowing the true budget for intelligence activities.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Citizens benefit from centralized counterintelligence coordination that may improve detection of foreign threats and espionage, and from transparency measures requiring congressional briefings on significant vulnerabilities. However, the bill grants broad surveillance and investigative powers to a single executive official with minimal public oversight, including authority to direct damage assessments, establish polygraph programs, and access all counterintelligence information across agencies—p

Who stands to gain

• Intelligence community agencies (increased coordination funding and personnel transfers)
• AI security contractors and researchers (mandated AI security playbook development and engagement)
• Biotechnology research institutions (designated senior officials and oversight requirements may incr

Named in the bill

Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Energy Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, National Counterintelligence Center (newly established), National Counterintelligence Task Force, DeepSeek (Chinese AI application), High Flyer (DeepSeek parent entity) — and 3 more

Where it stands

• Sep 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Sep 8, 2025 — Referred to House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select)”
• Sep 10, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Sep 10, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Voice Vote”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

12 lobbying clients named this bill on 15 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $6,960,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 93% of bills with at least one filing.

Rick Crawford, the sponsor, reported $590,291 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $7,500 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.

• Northrop Grumman Corporation — $3,530,000 on 2 filings
• Leidos Inc — $2,610,000 on 2 filings
• Peraton Corp. — $190,000 on 1 filing
• Battelle Memorial Institute — $180,000 on 1 filing
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company — $90,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.