U.S. Spy Chief Reiterates ‘Overclassification’ Concerns

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators Tuesday that the overclassification of data is a national security concern—a sentiment the nation’s top spy previously voiced in a January memo.

“Overclassification is a national security problem,” said Haines, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee alongside Defense Intelligence Agency Director Scott Berrier.

“This is a challenge as you ideate from a democratic perspective but also a challenge from the national security perspective,” Haines continued in an exchange with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “It’s a very challenging issue.”

In January, Haines authored a letter to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., outlining “deficiencies in the current classification system” that impede the intelligence community’s ability “to share information in a timely manner” with intelligence partners, oversight bodies and the general public.

Warren cited information that Biden administration intelligence officials declassified in the lead up and early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as evidence that a “well-functioning declassification system can be incredibly powerful.” That intelligence essentially described Russia’s war plans and provided a heads up to the world to prepare for a misinformation campaign. She applauded the effort, which “took a reshuffling of resources to make happen.” Yet Warren said the federal government spends $18 billion annually protecting the classification system compared to $102 million on declassification efforts.

“That ratio feels off in a Democracy,” said Warren, who asked Haines to elaborate on specific lessons learned from the war in Ukraine regarding how to expedite declassification.

Haines deferred a response to a closed session hearing later Tuesday.

“Overclassification has been a problem across administrations,” Warren said. “When we keep secrets from the American people, there needs to be a compelling reason to do so.”