WASHINGTON
—
The
House
version
of
the
fiscal
2026
Intelligence
Act
would
restore
funds
cut
by
the
White
House
for
commercial
imagery
buys
by
the
National
Reconnaissance
Office
(NRO),
according
to
industry
and
congressional
sources.
The
House
Permanent
Select
Committee
on
Intelligence
(HPSCI),
chaired
by
Rep.
Rick
Crawford,
R.-Ariz.,
passed
the
intelligence
policy
bill
on
Sept.
10.
While
the
line
item
for
NRO’s
commercial
spending,
like
the
rest
of
the
spysat
agency’s
budget
is
classified,
it
has
previously
been
reported that
NRO’s
commercial
budget
hovers
at
about
$400
million
a
year.
Most
of
that
goes
to
the
Electro-Optical
Commercial
Layer,
and
the
rest
goes
to
study
contracts
for
other
types
of
remote
sensing
—
such
as
synthetic
aperture
radar
that
can
see
through
clouds
—
under
the
agency’s
Strategic
Commercial
Enhancements
Broad
Agency
Announcement
program.
Two
industry
sources
working
on
the
issue
said
that
the
legislation
fully
supports
the
long-running
Electro-Optical
Commercial
Layer
program
to
buy
imagery
from
satellites
equipped
with
visible
and
infrared
cameras.
Congressional
sources,
while
careful
to
avoid
tripping
over
the
classification
line,
concurred.
“In
a
bipartisan
effort,
HPSCI
authorized
funding
for
the
Electro-Optical
Commercial
Layer
program
at
a
strong
level
that
will
send
a
significant
demand
signal
to
the
commercial
imagery
industry.
Commercial
imagery
purchases
are
critical
to
our
national
security
and
provide
key
support
to
both
policymakers
and
warfighters,”
a
spokesperson
for
the
committee
said.
“Crucially,
commercial
imagery
is
not
classified,
so
other
parts
of
the
U.S.
Government
can
use
it
to
support
disaster
relief
efforts,
for
example,
something
our
IC’s
imagery
analysts
are
allowed
to
do.
This
investment
will
continue
to
yield
greater
capacity
and
new,
exciting
capabilities.
This
committee
remains
committed
to
funding
commercial
imagery
procurement
at
a
level
that
meets
the
needs
of
policymakers
and
warfighters,”
the
spokesperson
added.
The
FY26
“passback”
proposal
by
the
Office
of
Management
and
Budget
to
chop
an
array
of
NRO
funding
for
commercial
intelligence,
surveillance
and
reconnaissance
data
generated
vocal
push
back
from
the
US
remote
sensing
industry
and
market
analysts,
as
well
as
some
in
Congress.
Critics
argued
that
the
reductions
would
undercut
national
security
and
wreak
economic
havoc
on
the
burgeoning
sector.
Rep.
Seth
Moulton,
D-Mass.,
who
has
expressed
concern
about
the
proposed
reductions,
welcomed
the
move
to
restore
funding.
While
not
a
member
of
the
HPSCI,
Moulton
is
a
member
of
the
House
Armed
Services
subcommittee
on
strategic
forces
that
oversees
Pentagon
space
activities.
“OMB’s
proposed
cuts
to
commercial
space-based
sensing
were
shortsighted.
But
it
is
clear
there
is
strong
bipartisan
support
on
the
Hill
for
restoring
this
funding.
America’s
commercial
space
industry
is
a
major
competitive
advantage,
delivering
speed,
resilience,
and
innovation
at
a
competitive
price.
By
maximizing
our
use
of
commercial
imaging,
we
can
free
up
our
most
exquisite
satellites
to
do
more
of
the
tasks
that
only
they
can
perform,”
he
told
Breaking
Defense.
In
addition,
the
HPSCI
bill
includes
a
new
requirement
for
the
Office
of
the
Director
of
National
Intelligence
to
appoint
a
single
official
to
oversee
buying
all
commercially
available
information
(CAI)
for
all
the
agencies
making
up
the
Intelligence
Community
(IC).
These
include
all
the
military
services,
as
well
as
the
Defense
Intelligence
Agency,
the
National
Security
Agency,
and
the
National
Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency
(NGA).
“After
many
months
of
oversight
briefings
and
hearing
from
a
variety
of
stakeholders,
it
became
abundantly
clear
that
an
official
was
needed
to
oversee
the
acquisition
and
management
of
CAI
by
the
IC
elements.
After
an
official
is
selected
to
oversee
these
responsibilities,
the
designated
official
is
required
to
brief
Congress
annually
for
two
years
on
the
IC’s
acquisition
and
management
of
CAI,”
the
HPSCI
spokesperson
said.
While
the
version
of
the
Intelligence
Act
passed
by
the
HPSCI’s
Senate
side
equivalent
does
not
contain
a
similar
provision
to
create
an
IC-wide
acquisition
czar,
it
does
instruct
the
NRO
and
NGA
to
create
a
joint
program
management
office
for
commercial
GEOINT
data
and
services.
As
neither
the
full
House
or
Senate
have
passed
the
FY26
Intelligence
Act,
it
remains
unclear
when
the
two
sides
will
get
together
to
hash
out
the
differences.
While
there
is
no
guarantee
that
the
House
language
will
stand,
the
industry
sources
said
that
there
is
strong
bipartisan
support
by
the
IC
policy
committees
on
both
sides
of
Capitol
Hill
for
continuing,
and
even
increasing,
acquisition
of
commercial
remote
sensing
for
use
by
the
intelligence
agencies
and
allies.
That
bipartisan
support,
one
of
the
industry
sources
noted,
also
is
echoed
in
the
House
and
Senate
Armed
Services
Committees
that
oversee
the
Defense
Department.