Overview
- Title 10 U.S. Code §7377 in the FY2025 NDAA authorizes Army counterintelligence civilian agents to conduct searches, execute warrants and make arrests off post for counterintelligence, national security and terrorism cases.
- Army leaders say Defense Department implementing guidance requires sign-off from the Attorney General after internal Pentagon approvals, with the Secretary of the Army endorsement complete and a Secretary of Defense endorsement pending.
- Officials expect the approvals by the end of 2025, enabling agents to independently seize devices, run digital forensics and operate on online platforms when pursuing national security threats.
- The change is intended to ease backlogs caused by reliance on outside law enforcement, with ACIC emphasizing continued coordination with the FBI, which partners on about 65% of its investigations.
- ACIC counts roughly 3,000 agents, reports more than 650 national security investigations and about 25 arrests to date, and is supporting U.S. Northern Command and Task Force Southern Border operations.