Negroponte's $181 Million Welcome

By Timothy J. Burger

It is often said in Washington that only two things really matter: titles and real estate. And it seems that the likely new Director of National Intelligence (DNI), John Negroponte, will have a good helping of both. An "emergency" spending bill that passed the House last week includes $181 million requested by the White House for a new building to house the intelligence chief and his staff. Symbolically at least, it indicates that the DNI--who has the authority to hire 500 employees but whose role in the byzantine intelligence bureaucracy is still not entirely clear--will have a solid foothold in turf-conscious Washington. The news came as a particular blow to Pentagon boosters, who are fearful that the DNI will threaten the Defense Department's 80% share of the $40 billion U.S. intelligence budget.

It also struck some as odd that the matter would be addressed on an urgent basis. "I'm looking into this, and I've asked for some information," said Republican Congressman Todd Tiahrt of Kansas. "Why is it an emergency?" Tiahrt, who favored funding only $18 million for preliminary planning and has requested a briefing on a "site survey" conducted for the DNI's space, said the Administration was leaning toward an expensive site in the Tyson's Corner, Va., area of the Washington suburbs. He wants to know why the new intelligence czar can't settle for more reasonably priced real estate and possibly existing government buildings. A source says Negroponte may reject the Virginia location anyway, in favor of a spot closer to the White House. He obviously knows the other thing that really counts in Washington: location, location, location. --By Timothy J. Burger