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(Reuters) - U.S. President
Donald Trump would be required to notify U.S. lawmakers before creating a
joint U.S.-Russia cyber security unit - an idea that has drawn
criticism across the political spectrum - under legislation advancing in
Congress.
The proposal, if it became
law, would be the latest in a series of maneuvers by Congress that
either limit the president's authority on Russia matters or rebuke his
desire to warm relations with Moscow.
A provision contained within
the annual Intelligence Authorization Act and passed by the U.S. Senate
Intelligence Committee 14-1 would require the Trump administration to
provide Congress with a report describing what intelligence would be
shared with Russia, any counterintelligence concerns and how those
concerns would be addressed.
The bill, which grants
congressional approval for clandestine operations carried out by the CIA
and other U.S. intelligence agencies, passed the Senate Intelligence
Committee in July, but its text was only recently made public because it
involves sensitive intelligence operations.
Trump last month said on
Twitter that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed
establishing "an impenetrable Cyber Security unit" to address issues
like the risk of cyber meddling in elections.
Trump quickly backpedaled on
the idea, which was criticized by Democrats, senior Republicans and the
National Security Agency director.
The White House and Senator
Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the intelligence panel, were
not immediately available for comment on the bill.
WARMER RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA
Trump wants to improve
relations with Russia, a desire that has been hamstrung by the
conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the
2016 presidential election to help Republican Trump against Democrat
Hillary Clinton.
U.S. congressional panels
and a special counsel are investigating the interference and possible
collusion between Russia and members of Trump's campaign. Moscow has
denied any meddling and Trump has denied any collusion.
Previously, Congress tied
the president's hands on Russia by passing a bill that Trump cannot ease
the sanctions against Russia unless he seeks congressional approval.
In August, the Senate
blocked Trump from being able to make recess appointments while
lawmakers were on break, fearing the president would fire Attorney
General Jeff Sessions over his handling of the Russian probe.
Lawmakers have also
introduced legislation to stop Trump from having the ability to fire
Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to determine whether there
was collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Moscow.
The annual Intelligence
Authorization Act requires approval by the full Senate and House and the
president's signature before it can become law. No vote has been
scheduled and the last act was passed by Congress in March.
The legislation's provision
requiring notification of any U.S.-Russia cybersecurity unit was pushed
by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, his office said on Tuesday.
Wyden also helped secure
provisions in the bill that call for an intelligence report assessing
the threat posed to the United States by Russian money laundering and
another report examining whether cyber vulnerabilities in U.S. cell
networks, including a known bug in the global mobile network Signaling
System No. 7, or SS7, are being exploited by foreign governments to
conduct surveillance on Americans.
Wyden was the lone committee vote against the bill, however.
He said in a statement on
Tuesday that he objected to language that identified the anti-secrecy
group WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service" because
doing so could have implications for journalists.
(This version of the story was refiled to correct "conclusion" to "collusion" in paragraph 9)
Reporting by Dustin Volz in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Shumaker
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