Intel oversight

Obama nominates CIA watchdog to fill long vacancy

President Obama on Thursday nominated a former CIA officer and longtime lawyer who examined missteps in U.S. intelligence to be the spy agency’s next inspector general, hoping to fill a position at the watchdog office that’s been vacant for more than a year.

If confirmed by the Senate, Shirley Woodward would fill the role left empty since David Buckley stepped down in January 2015, on the heels of a landmark determination that CIA officials hadgained unauthorized access to Senate computer files. Lawmakers called the episode a potential violation of constitutional separation of powers, and the spat led to one of the bitterest moments in relations between the spy agency and its congressional overseers in recent history.

In Buckley’s absence, the spy agency watchdog has been helmed by Deputy Inspector General Christopher Sharpley, who has filled the role on an acting basis.