Congressional ‘Blue Dog Democrats’ caucus endorses Stephanie Murphy’s secrets bill

Winter Park’s U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy has won the endorsement of the Congressional Blue Dog Democrats’ Caucus for her bill clamping down on administration officials’ sharing classified information with America’s enemies.

Murphy introduced her Prevention and Oversight of Intelligence Sharing with Enemies Act last month after reports that President Donald Trump had shared classified information with Russian diplomats in an oval office meeting.

“At a time when discussions about our national security are increasingly political and partisan, the Blue Dogs are staying focused on commonsense solutions that protect our country,”U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, the caucus’s co-chair for communications stated in a news release. “It is crucial for Congress to have oversight authority over all U.S. officials, including the President, when it comes to disclosing highly sensitive information.”

The Blue Dogs are a coalition of moderate Democrats. Murphy joined the caucus shortly before she took office.

The POISE Act requires the president to notify congressional intelligence committees when an official in the executive branch of the federal government, including the president, knowingly or unintentionally reveals top secret classified information to the representatives of a nation that is designated to be a state sponsor of terrorism or is the subject of U.S. economic sanctions based on state-sponsored conduct.

Executive Order 12356 states that the unauthorized disclosure of information that falls under the top secret classification level “could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.”

The Blue Dogs contend that the POISE Act would deter disclosure of top secret information to representatives of foreign adversaries, and empower Congress to exercise its appropriate oversight function by evaluating the rationale behind these disclosures, examining any potential damage, and taking any other appropriate oversight action.