Defense Secretary Denies Lobbying against Intelligence Reform Bill

As noted here earlier this week, the Congress failed to pass a bill to reform America’s intelligence community. One of the two issues that derailed the measure in the House of Representatives was the transferring of budgetary power from the Pentagon to a new National Director of Intelligence. Immediately after the bill failed, the Washington rumor mill began to say that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had lobbied against it to retain his say over 80% of America’s intelligence budget. So pervasive was the rumor that the Secretary denied any such lobbying on Tuesday. It is difficult to know whom to believe, but one thing is certain; Donald Rumsfeld will be calling the intelligence shots no matter what for as long as he is at Defense.

The secretary is an old Washington hand, and the game’s rules are crystal clear to him. Controlling the budget means controlling the agency. The Founding Fathers knew this and gave the Congress, that branch closest to the people, the power of the purse strings. So, as in any good detective story, the secretary’s denial rings hollow because he certainly has a solid motive for derailing any such “reform.”

However, Mr. Rumsfeld is also a member of a very tightly knit group at the White House, where loyalty is placed above all other values, such as competence, wisdom and telling the truth. Rummy didn’t get to be where he is by being disloyal. And if the president wants a National Director of Intelligence to have control over the budget of the intelligence community, that is the page in the hymnal from which he shall sing.

Reconciling the two is not a difficulty. Give the boss what he wants. That proves loyalty. Don’t’ lobby against him at any price. But, when it comes time to choose the new man for the new job, get into the process early and make very certain that the post is filled by someone sound. For “sound” read “appropriately malleable.” Mr. Rumsfeld knows perfectly well that one can yield on principle so long as personnel matters go one’s way.

This is in keeping with the tone of the rest of the administration now that Colin Powell is gone. Mr. Bush is in charge of a foreign policy cabal that doesn’t disagree internally about how things must be. The new intelligence tsar won’t rock that boat. And so long as that is the case, Mr. Rumsfeld’s position changes only on the organizational chart, not in real terms. So, did he lobby against his president’s stated goal? Absolutely not. He’s already won the game before it has been played.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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