Watch Floor Brief · 9/11 Commission Review
Twenty-five years after 9/11, the House Intelligence Committee reviewed what the U.S. fixed, what it never finished, and where new intelligence gaps may be forming. These are the ten points I think matter most.
1. The biometric exit system is still unfinished.
HPSCI says biometric exit screening is still not fully implemented across every category of travel.
2. Counterintelligence still has stovepipes.
There is no requirement for every Intelligence Community agency to share its counterintelligence information with the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.
3. Congress wants to revisit CIA’s paramilitary role.
The 9/11 Commission recommended moving CIA paramilitary responsibilities to the Department of Defense. That idea was rejected then, but House Intel says it should be debated again.
4. About 20 percent of the President’s Daily Brief now comes from publicly available information.
At the same time, the committee says huge amounts of publicly and commercially available information are still underused.
5. AI is now a terrorism issue.
The report warns that advanced artificial intelligence could lower technical barriers for terrorists and other rogue actors, including in areas involving biological threats.
6. Great-power competition could create new blind spots.
HPSCI warns that shifting resources toward China, Russia and other major powers risks allowing expertise elsewhere to atrophy.
7. Information sharing may be slipping backward.
The report warns that agencies are increasingly producing internal intelligence products that may not be visible outside their own organizations.
8. ODNI may need another look.
The committee supports keeping the Director of National Intelligence but raises concerns about bureaucratic growth, management, and whether the DNI is functioning as intended.
9. Congress says Congress itself is a counterintelligence target.
The committee recommends recurring counterintelligence training for members and cleared staff.
10. The next 9/11 probably will not look like 9/11.
The next strategic surprise could involve cyber operations, sabotage, drones, AI, critical infrastructure, proxies, or several of those things at once. When several actors work together, the threat often does not fit neatly into the Intelligence Community’s existing boxes.
The report gives the post-9/11 reforms real credit. But its broader warning is hard to miss: some old gaps remain, new ones are forming, and the failure-of-imagination lesson is still very much alive.