Suggested time-20 minutes.
In the fall of 2024, a series of investigative reports in the Washington Post revealed that the National Cybersecurity Intelligence Bureau (NCIB), a federal agency in the executive branch, had been operating a domestic metadata collection program called NORTHSTAR. According to the reports, NORTHSTAR gathered phone and email routing information from United States residents without obtaining individual court orders. Civil liberties groups called the program an overreach, while bureau officials insisted it was authorized under a broadly worded 2018 statute.
In response, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence opened formal hearings. The committee’s chair issued subpoenas for internal NCIB memos and for testimony from the bureau’s director. Several senators publicly warned that if the bureau refused to cooperate, the committee would recommend cuts to the bureau’s appropriations in the next budget cycle. The administration pushed back, arguing that key documents were protected from disclosure and that NORTHSTAR was essential to national security.
After two weeks of hearings, the committee released an interim report calling for new statutory limits on bulk metadata collection. Advocacy groups pressed the administration to suspend NORTHSTAR pending legislative action.
After reading the scenario above, respond to parts A through C.
Suggested time-20 minutes.
The following line graph shows the number of open (public) and closed (classified) congressional intelligence committee hearings held each year from 2015 to 2024.
Source: Illustrative data adapted from House and Senate Intelligence Committee hearing schedules.
Source: Federation of American Scientists, Project on Government Secrecy, 2024
Use the line graph above to answer parts A through D.