‘Backwater’ Intelligence Office Faces Test Under Biden Nominee

I&A has also struggled with the second prong of its mission: making sure the federal government and its state and local partners are talking. While the FBI works with state and local law enforcement on individual cases and task forces, I&A has the ability to build long-term relationships with those jurisdictions to track broader trends, said Christian Beckner, a former Senate homeland security aide who worked on related legislation.

But the arrangement has fallen short through the years. Government watchdogs and congressional overseers have previously called I&A’s information-sharing plans inadequate and questioned whether a national network of state-run hubs called fusion centers produced useful intelligence. Congress passed a law (Public Law 116-116) last year requiring DHS to expand its engagement with fusion centers.

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