Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2027

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chair, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee for his hard work, as always.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the budget resolution. First off, I want to thank Chairman Arrington and the members of the Budget Committee for producing this budget.

Republican Members of Congress, working closely with President Trump, are the only ones serious in Washington about attacking wasteful Federal spending.

As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, I am fighting waste, fraud, and abuse in the classified budget.

HPSCI Republicans are working to force the intelligence community to achieve clean financial audits, and we are working to create a culture of accountability.

In my opinion, there can be no doubt that this administration is also serious about going after waste, fraud, and abuse. The screaming from the other side of the aisle is proof that this is the case. The flak is always heaviest when you are directly over the target.

Democrats oppose this budget, and they oppose every action of this House because they want unelected Washington officials to be in charge until President Trump's term expires. Obstruction is their priority because their porkbarrel spending has been exposed and their slush funds are being drained.

To fight their obstruction, we need a budget resolution. We need to stand united as a Republican Conference so that we can have a functioning government.

We need to empower the running of the executive branch by the President the American people elected.

The resolution doesn't include everything each of us might ask for, but it is necessary to keep us moving forward. And I urge all Members to support the resolution.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record the budget views and estimates letter of the House Intelligence Committee. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, June 5, 2026. Hon. Jodey Arrington, Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Chairman Arrington: Pursuant to Section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and rule X, clause 11(c) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and in response to your letter dated May 7, 2026, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (hereafter ``the Committee'') herewith provides its views and estimates for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027.

In your letter to the Committee, you requested information on policy reforms related to improper payments and we have identified specific proposals within our jurisdiction that we believe directly relate to the detection of improper payments, as well as measures needed to improve financial accountability across the Intelligence Community.

You have also asked us to examine spending to determine if savings are possible. There is a single program within the Committee's jurisdiction that falls within the category of mandatory spending. It is the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System (CIARDS). The CIARDS, which was established in 1964 and is authorized at $514 million annually, is a retirement account that has been closed to new participants for more than 40 years.

The Committee has requested a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of CIARDS to ensure its financial integrity and operational efficiency. Should any potential for savings be identified, we will pursue them. At this time, we believe annual appropriations remain necessary at their current level to provide earned benefits to retirees.

The rest of the classified budget of the Intelligence Community is authorized in two large programs--the National Intelligence Program (NIP) and the Military Intelligence Program (MIP), which are funded through annual discretionary spending. The NIP includes the budgets of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the intelligence components of the military services (Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force) and the intelligence components of the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security (including Coast Guard), Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration), State, and Treasury. The MIP provides additional funding to support specific requirements of the military services and combatant commands.

While detailed funding levels for FY 2027 remain classified, the topline budget requests for both the NIP and MIP have been publicly released. The total funding requested for the NIP is $81.9 billion, which is unchanged from the prior year request. The MIP budget request is $50.0 billion, which is an increase of $17.0 billion or 34 percent from the prior year request.

Improving Congressional Oversight of the Classified Budget

By longstanding policy, the Congress has agreed to authorize, and fund classified intelligence programs without disclosing to the public the specific funding amounts or nature of such programs or activities to protect the national security of the United States. To support the classified budget, complex mechanisms within the executive branch have long been leveraged to enable the development, execution, and performance evaluation of the secret budget and to protect the classified programs of the Intelligence Community from discovery by foreign adversaries. Over time, congressional leaders have sought to balance the need for secrecy with the need for appropriate financial controls and reporting.

The National Security Act of 1947 prohibits the Intelligence Community from spending federal funds on any intelligence or intelligence-related activity unless specifically authorized by Congress and, when authorized, only according to the conditions specified by Congress. Each year, the congressional intelligence committees of the House and Senate pursue passage of the Intelligence Authorization Act to provide this required authorization. The most recent authorization was enacted in December of 2025 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Additionally, there are statutory requirements for the Intelligence Community to keep congress fully and currently informed, to submit classified budget justification materials, and to conduct independent financial audits.

In 2022, amendments to the National Security Act sponsored by the Committee clarified that the Director of National Intelligence must ensure that the programs and activities of the Intelligence Community are structured and executed in a manner that enables budget traceability. Statutory changes also sought to align the Federal Bureau of Investigation's intelligence budget, as well as those of other intelligence programs, with the National Intelligence Strategy and the requirements specified in the National Intelligence Priorities Framework. Alignment is necessary to improve accountability and to implement performance measures tied to requirements established by the President.

However, despite existing statutory requirements, the Committee continues to identify challenges in oversight of the secret budget, including a heightened risk of waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement. These challenges stem from insufficient budget documentation, as well as inadequate financial systems and related controls. To further improve oversight and accountability of the budget, the Committee will be considering legislation clarifying current law to ensure that the classified budget justification submitted under section 506J of the National Security Act provides full and accurate budget documentation (including full and accurate cost information) for each program, project, and activity. Proposed changes will also prohibit the withholding of budget information from the congressional intelligence committees absent a specific national security determination by the President--a determination that must be transmitted to Congress.

Enactment of these changes to law will assist the Committee in resolving longstanding challenges to congressional oversight of the budget, most notably the budgets of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and certain highly classified programs of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Committee will also be examining additional changes to ensure that the development, execution, and performance evaluation of the classified budget can occur with appropriate levels of security in compliance with laws and policies necessary to ensure transparency and accountability. Financial Management

The Committee is also seeking to address the fact that only one element of the Intelligence Community has achieved an unmodified or ``clean'' financial audit. Independent audits of the classified budget have been a requirement under the National Security Act since 2014. While the Committee acknowledges ongoing efforts to achieve auditable finances, we have noted a longstanding failure by the Intelligence Community to pursue business system modernization, transformation and integration required since 2010.

The Government Accountability Office initially documented the transformation and integration failure in 2018 and continues to affirm that no significant actions have been undertaken to achieve the policy established by law. Modernization and integration are necessary to improve confidence in the accuracy of the classified budget, to support budget accountability and to protect the continued secrecy of classified programs. For this reason, the Committee will pursue changes to statute clarifying responsibility for action and will prioritize investments necessary to achieve the required transformation. Publicly Available Information and Commercially Available Information

The Committee is also seeking to better understand and to more effectively conduct oversight related to the acquisition and use of publicly available information (PAI) and commercially available information (CAI) across the Intelligence Community. PAI and CAI are large and growing centers of expenditure within the classified budget and are increasingly central to intelligence analysis, strategic warning, economic security, sanctions enforcement, military planning, and strategic competition. However, the Committee has found that budget justification materials submitted to Congress provide limited visibility into this spending.

A number of efforts are being undertaken by the Committee to improve budget documentation and related financial reporting related to PAI and CAI expenditures. This includes examination of changes to law that would expand enterprise governance and safeguarding measures for sensitive commercially available information, particularly datasets that may contain United States person information. Accountability Within the Intelligence Community

While there is no indication of pervasive fraud or abuse associated with the classified budget, it is critical that those found to have committed crimes face justice. However, the Committee has learned that there is a substantially lower likelihood of prosecution of fraud that occurs within the Intelligence Community. As of 2025, the Department of Justice pursued only 25 percent of the Intelligence Community Inspector General's criminal referrals.

In the coming months, the Committee will consider the extension of law enforcement authority to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community with the objective of increasing successful prosecution rates. Such authority has been granted to other inspectors general across the U.S. Government and has merit based on the unique challenges associated with investigations into personnel affiliated with classified programs. Spending Increase Needed to Address Counterintelligence Threats

While reforms are needed to address budget transparency, financial reporting, and accountability, the Committee cannot ignore the growing threats associated with foreign intelligence activities within the homeland. The magnitude of threats to national and economic security associated with foreign adversaries and their proxies operating within the homeland, and against our interests globally, is greater today and more complex than at any time during the Cold War. The Committee has determined that--

Foreign intelligence penetrations consistently outpace the ability of the current counterintelligence enterprise to detect threats and to act on a strategic level to impose cost and deter adversary operations.

The United States lacks a sufficiently funded and coordinated, national-level strategic response to the counterintelligence threats posed by the People's Republic of China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries.

To address these problems, the Committee will consider enhanced budget authority to enable the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) to coordinate the integration of all instruments of national power to protect the homeland to counter foreign intelligence activities. This is a critical statutory responsibility of the NCSC, which has not been sufficiently funded.

The Committee will also consider options to provide additional budget authority across the U.S. Government to: (1) enhance the counterintelligence workforce of Federal departments and agencies; (2) support programs and operational activities to achieve national strategic outcomes (undertaken under the authority and direction of the various departments and agencies, including those in partnership with State, local and tribal governments); (3) support the construction, expansion or modernization of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities to support interagency cooperation (including with State, local and tribal governments); (4) support research and development of counterintelligence capabilities and tradecraft to address the strategic threats and opportunities associated with advanced technology; and (5) to support the modernization of technical security countermeasures capabilities across the government.

Additional information concerning the counterintelligence budget will be provided via appropriate channels to protect classified information. In addition, the Committee is prepared to work with you to provide the Budget Committee with the information necessary to understand current threats, which we believe justifies our recommendation for additional funding. Critical Investments in Artificial Intelligence

The final matter on which the Committee will share its views is related to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. The Committee agrees with the President's declaration that the United States is in a race to achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence and supports additional spending authority to meet this important challenge.

The Intelligence Community must make investments, pursuant to the strict oversight of Congress, in recognition of the dramatic shifts that are occurring in artificial intelligence. However, absent additional budget authority for the rapid fielding of capabilities--capabilities emerging within the commercial marketplace today--there is a risk that the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense will be outpaced by adversaries, most notably China.

To be clear, this is not a problem of innovation in America, which is leading in this critical field. Instead, we see a serious problem associated with the adoption of this technology by those charged with protecting the national security of the United States. Specific information concerning artificial intelligence investments planned by the Intelligence Community in FY 2027 is classified and can be made available separately. Conclusion

In the coming months, the Committee will consider statutory changes to improve oversight and accountability with respect to the classified budget. We will also work to ensure budget authority is appropriate to address unprecedented and growing threats, particularly threats associated with foreign adversary operations within the homeland and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence.

Thank you for your support as we work to bring these issues forward in the House. If you or the Members of the Budget Committee have any questions about the views and estimates expressed in this letter, please let me know. Sincerely, Eric A ``Rick'' Crawford, Chairman.

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate all the support of the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee.

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