United States Joint Intelligence Community Council

The Joint Intelligence Community Council (JICC) assists the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in implementing a joint, unified national intelligence effort to protect national and homeland security and advise the DNI on setting requirements, managing finances, establishing uniform intelligence policies, and monitoring and evaluating performance of the Intelligence Community

Intelligence community

Intelligence community may refer to* Bangladeshi intelligence community* Croatian intelligence community * Israeli intelligence community* Italian intelligence community, see SISMI...

Establishment

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 , , is a 236-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects US federal terrorism laws. In juxtaposition with the single-subject rule, the act is composed of several separate titles with varying subject...

of 2004 established the Joint Intelligence Community Council as an Executive oversight body to the Intelligence Community. The JICC meets semiannually. To see a copy of the JICC's first meeting in pdf format, click here.

Membership

The Director of National Intelligence chairs the Joint Intelligence Community Council. Other members of the oversight body include:

The Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
The Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
The Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
The Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
The Secretary of Energy
United States Secretary of Energy
The United States Secretary of Energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was formed on October 1, 1977 with the creation of the Department of Energy when President Jimmy...
The Secretary of Homeland Security
United States Secretary of Homeland Security
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created by the...
Other officers of the United States Government designated by the President

Advise the DNI

In order to assist the Director of National Intelligence develop and implement a joint, unified national intelligence effort to protect national security, the Joint Intelligence Community Council serves two functions. The first function is to advise the DNI on how to most effectively establish requirements, develop budgets, manage finances, and monitor and evaluate the performance of the Intelligence Community. This list is not exhaustive, however, as the DNI may request the JICC for advisement on other matters related to national security.

Ensure the Execution of Programs

The second function designated to the Joint Intelligence Community Council to ensure a unified intelligence effort is to ensure the timely execution of programs, policies, and directives established by the Chairman, the DNI.

Advice and Opinions of Members other than the Chairman

The Director of National Intelligence (Chairman of the JICC) presents his/her advice and opinions gathered from the advice and opinions of the JICC to the President and National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

. If a dissenting member of the JICC disagrees with, or wishes to add to, the advice and opinions of the Chairman presented to the President and the National Security Council, the dissenting member may submit to the Chairman his/her opinions. If such a situation occurs, the Chairman must present the advice or opinions of the dissenting member at the same time as the Chairman presents his/hers to the President and the National Security Council. As a result, the Chairman must establish procedures to ensure that the presentation of the advice of the Chairman to the President and the National Security Council is not unduly delayed due to the submission of dissenting opinions.

Recommendations to Congress

All members of the Joint Intelligence Community Council may present any recommendations relating to the Intelligence Community to Congress as the presenter considers appropriate.

Positives

According to Tom Ridge

Tom Ridge

Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...

, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Joint Intelligence Community Council is critical to the Intelligence Community. The Chairman of the JICC reports to the President as the head of the Intelligence Community. The JICC is critical to ensuring that the Chairman provides sound advice to the President and the National Security Council. Additionally, the JICC provides each of its members the opportunity to shape intelligence priorities.

Criticisms

Critics of the effectiveness of the Joint Intelligence Community Council offer two key criticisms. First, the members of the JICC, other than the Chairman, are unlikely to have the time to devote to intelligence management issues. In addition to serving on the oversight body examining intelligence, members of the JICC are also responsible for managing the Treasury, State Department, the Department of Defense, Justice Department, etc. The second criticism against the effectiveness of the JICC is the lack of power yielded to the Chairman. In addition to the rights of all JICC member to convey their view to the President, all of the members, aside from the Chairman, have additional avenues to speak to the President separate from the JICC. This current structure challenges the power and decisions of the Chairman.