Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture

The Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture Subcommittee is a specialized panel within the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that focuses on military intelligence operations and space-based surveillance systems. As a subcommittee, it conducts initial reviews and holds hearings on matters within its jurisdiction, preparing the groundwork for the full committee's consideration. The subcommittee does not directly report legislation to the House floor—that authority rests with the parent Intelligence Committee.

The subcommittee's jurisdiction covers the intelligence programs, budgets, and operations of the Department of Defense. This includes oversight of major intelligence agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as well as intelligence components within the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force. The subcommittee also reviews activities funded through the Military Intelligence Program and monitors the collection and use of various intelligence types including imagery, geospatial, acoustic, and signals intelligence.

The subcommittee is chaired by Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, with Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois serving as Ranking Member. The panel consists of ten members total, split between the two parties. Much of the subcommittee's work occurs in closed sessions due to the classified nature of defense intelligence matters, though it regularly conducts briefings, hearings, and roundtables to review programs and policies affecting the nation's military intelligence enterprise and overhead satellite architecture.