White House to preserve controversial policy on NSA, Cyber Command leadership - The Washington Post
The Obama administration has decided to preserve a controversial arrangement by which a single military official is permitted to direct both the National Security Agency and the military’s cyberwarfare command, U.S. officials said.
The decision by President Obama comes amid signs that the White House is not inclined to impose significant new restraints on the NSA’s activities — especially its collection of data on virtually every phone call Americans make — although it is likely to impose additional privacy protection measures.
Some officials, including the top U.S. intelligence official, had argued that the NSA and Cyber Command should be placed under separate leadership to ensure greater accountability and avoid an undue concentration of power. The decision also comes despite a draft recommendation by an external review panel appointed by Obama that a civilian head be installed at the NSA, effectively splitting the roles, according to an official familiar with some of the early recommendations.
