I just finished reading the democracy now interview with Shane Harris about total information awareness (TIA) and it left me wondering:
"Congress" cancelled TIA but Congress evidently re-authorized it by funding the secret NSA budget. So, the question I have is:
Did NSA hide from congress what it was doing with the money? Or did Congress know and was hiding what *it* was doing from the public while making a show of cancelling TIA?
Or did *most* of Congress think it was cancelling TIA, but a *few* members of Congress (those on committee(s?) that know what the secret NSA budget funds) did know that they were funding it despite the will of most of Congress????
Is there anyway to find out at least procedurally what the answers to those questions are?
That's a doozy of a ref question. I think you've already answered it though. Those darn appropriations bills have all sorts of hidden little tidbits. Added to that is the fact that the NSA's budget is classified and is probably augmented by discretionary funds of the director of national intelligence (actually it's under the dept of defense but still) so most Congress people don't even know what they're funding. And there's no way to prove that those that are in the know have usurped the will of Congress. According to the NSA's website:
"...The budget and size of NSA/CSS are classified, these details are known by the Office of Management and Budget, by both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), and by the Defense Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committees in both houses of Congress."
So I think you were closer to the truth with your second supposition; congress KNOWS and hides what it does from the public while making a show of cancelling TIA. You may want to contact members of the SSCI, HPSCI and various other committees to get more information.
See also, the following sites for more information and background into the NSA and TIA: