In response to a recent embarrassing intelligence leak, Congress is introducing some bipartisan bills to cut back on the amount of intelligence that is considered sensitive and therefore must be protected, a problem termed “overclassification.” Their initiative is sensible, but it is unlikely to achieve its goals. The expansion of the intelligence bureaucracy by definition means more classified information and more security-clearance-holding employees. Security procedures can always be tightened, but the bloated bureaucracy renders overclassification and leaking inevitable.
