From Lawfare: An Assessment of the Second U.S. Government Domestic Terrorism Assessment

Do executive agency reports influence members of Congress? 

Sometimes.

- Click here for the article.

- Click here for the report.

By their very nature, congressionally mandated reports can be dull check-the-box exercises. By the time the reports come out, the members of Congress (or, more likely, their staff) who requested them have usually moved on to their next hot policy topic, and the executive branch is stuck writing annual reports that no one ever reads. However, every once and a while, there is a topic of such importance that the reporting requirement produces an informative piece of work that should influence public policy. The recently released intelligence assessment of domestic terrorism is such a document.

This is the second iteration of the Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism. The first one, while interesting, fell short in a number of ways and felt, in a sense, like an attempt to placate eager congressional overseers. This iteration, which was released with little fanfare or a typical departmental press release, is a significant improvement. From additional granularity in the size and scope of the threat of domestic terrorism to a more forthcoming acknowledgement of its complexity, it should provide a road map for U.S. domestic counterterrorism efforts.

The 44-page report, written jointly by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, is required, under 2020 law:


[T]o the fullest extent feasible and for purposes of internal recordkeeping and tracking, uniform and standardized definitions of the terms “domestic terrorism,” “act of domestic terrorism,” “domestic terrorism groups,” and any other commonly used terms with respect to DT; methodologies for tracking incidents of DT; and descriptions of categories and subcategories of DT and ideologies relating to DT[.]

By measures of law enforcement investigations, domestic terrorism is increasing.

- What is domestic terrorism?