Obama-approved satellite plan opens rift on Capitol Hill

A heated dispute over spending billions on new spy satellites has fallen into the laps of appropriators, who will have to decide in the coming months whether to approve funds for the controversial effort. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair announced late Tuesday that President Obama had approved a plan to replace the nation's aging spy satellites.

Under the plan, the intelligence community will buy and launch new electro-optical satellites over the next decade. Such satellites use ultraviolet, visible and infrared rays to identify objects on the Earth's surface. In the interim, the government will buy imagery from commercial companies, enabling them to launch new, less-complex satellites in the near future. But the plan, which has been in the works for months, has met stiff opposition from Senate Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., who is pushing an alternative that calls for increasing the deployment of less-sophisticated satellites. Bond tried to persuade Obama in a March 27 letter to hold off on approving Blair's plan.

That plan would essentially replace a failed effort led by Boeing Co. to replace the nation's overhead satellite architecture. Congress killed funding for the effort four years ago due to major schedule and cost problems.

A fracture appeared to erupt between intelligence agencies and Defense Department officials over the plan in recent weeks. But a senior intelligence official told reporters Tuesday that Blair and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are now "linked at the hip" on the program. "This has been a long time coming and we're not going to stand around now that we have the approval," the official said. The official said the acquisition plan was still being worked out but could begin within months. "We and the Defense secretary intend to support this program wholeheartedly and, with the support of the White House, we expect that we'll be able to get it through [Congress]," the official said. "We have the majority of support from the Hill," another official added.

Bond, an appropriator, said he will meet with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., after the recess to "discuss what next steps are appropriate" and plot his strategy. He said he and Feinstein have made their position clear to Blair and Obama. "The amount of resources this acquisition will consume is very large and the savings from selecting a cheaper but equally effective alternative could be applied to meet other critical intelligence shortfalls."

Feinstein and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In his letter to Obama, Bond said Blair's plan "is the most expensive option under consideration" but meets the "fewest of the intelligence community's attributes for an imagery collection architecture." He added: "When additional costs to the Department of Defense are included, combined with the substantially diminished life expectancy of satellites, the costs of this option are even greater." He said the life expectancy of satellites is diminished due to increased debris orbiting the Earth.

Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., said he is reserving judgment until he receives a briefing from Blair after the recess.