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Within the Congress, principal oversight responsibility rests with the two intelligence committees. By law, the President must ensure that these two committees are kept "fully and currently" informed of the activities of the Intelligence Community, including any "significant anticipated intelligence activities." Notice is also required to be provided to both committees of all covert action programs approved by the President as well as all "significant intelligence failures."

• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI): Senate Resolution 400 established the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on May 19, 1976 to oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government, to submit to the Senate appropriate proposals for legislation, and report to the Senate concerning such intelligence activities and programs. Part of its mandate is to assure that the intelligence elements of the United States provide informed and timely intelligence necessary for the executive and legislative branches to make sound decisions affecting the security and vital interests of the Nation and assure intelligence activities conform with the Constitution and laws of the United States. The Committee is currently composed of 8 Majority members and 7 Minority Members, the Chairman and Ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate are ex-officio members of the Committee.

• House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI): House Resolution 658 established the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on July 14, 1977 and outlined the jurisdiction and makeup of the Committee. The Committee originally comprised13 members, with at least one member from the following committees: Appropriations, Armed Services and International Relations, and Judiciary. The Committee is currently composed of 12 Majority members and 9 Minority Members. The Committee's Jurisdiction is over the 1) the Intelligence Community and the Director of Central Intelligence; 2) Intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and other agencies of the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury; 3) The organization, or reorganization, of any department or agency to the extent that it relates to a function or activity involving intelligence or intelligence-related activities; and 4) Direct and indirect authorizations for the CIA and director of Central Intelligence, the DIA, NSA, and all other agencies and subdivisions of the DOD, the Department of State, and the FBI, including all activities of the intelligence division.

• Other Committees: In addition to the intelligence committees, other congressional committees occasionally become involved in oversight matters by virtue of their overlapping jurisdictions and responsibilities. The armed services committees of each House, for example, exercise concurrent jurisdiction over DoD intelligence activities; and the judiciary committees in each House exercise concurrent jurisdiction over FBI intelligence activities.

Through these interactions, the IC keeps policy and decision makers well informed of intelligence related to national security issues, and Congress maintains oversight of intelligence activities.

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