Porter Goss Amazed at CIA Chief Workload

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Porter Goss Amazed at CIA Chief Workload

James Joyner | Thursday, March 3, 2005

In a rare public appearance Wednesday, CIA Director Porter Goss said he is overwhelmed by the many duties of his job, including devoting five hours out of every day to prepare for and deliver intelligence briefings to President Bush. “The jobs I’m being asked to do, the five hats that I wear, are too much for this mortal,” Goss said. “I’m a little amazed at the workload.”

Goss praised Bush’s choice for the new job of national intelligence director, John Negroponte. The career diplomat, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, will take over several of the duties currently assigned to Goss, including the presidential briefing.

This highlights an oft-neglected issue in the creation of the NID post. It’s not just that having the CIA Director also wear the Director of Central Intelligence hat created conflicts but it ensures that both jobs get suboptimal attention. It makes little sense for the CIA head to spend a third of his day getting ready to brief the president. On the other hand, it’s a perfectly logical function for a NID, whose job it is to amalgamate the intelligence collected by the various agencies.

Specialization and division of labor are generally a good idea.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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