Covert Action

Covert action is defined in the National Security Act as activities to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad where the role of the U.S. government is not intended to be apparent or acknowledged. It does not include ordinary intelligence gathering, diplomacy, or traditional military activities. The CIA carries out most covert action. During the Cold War it helped overthrow governments in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954, organized the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, and armed Afghan fighters against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

After revelations of assassination plots and other abuses, Congress passed the Hughes-Ryan Amendment in 1974 requiring the President to approve covert actions, and the Church and Pike committees led to permanent intelligence committees in 1976 and 1977. After the Iran-Contra affair, a 1991 law required that every covert action be authorized in a written presidential finding that it supports identifiable foreign policy goals, reported to the House and Senate intelligence committees, or in extreme cases only to eight congressional leaders. Covert action may not violate the Constitution or U.S. law or be aimed at influencing U.S. politics or media.

Since 2001 covert action has included CIA drone strikes and detention programs against terrorist groups. Presidents rarely confirm covert operations, but in October 2025 the President publicly said he had authorized CIA covert action in Venezuela. Supporters say covert action gives Presidents options between diplomacy and war. Critics say it has often backfired, undermined democracy abroad, and escaped meaningful oversight, and that public acknowledgment erodes the deniability that defines it.