In recent years, federal agencies and organizations have witnessed their jurisdictions converge in a number of areas that support U.S. national security. For operations that rely heavily upon information technology, the complexity associated with clarifying statutory authority has been met with inconsistent responses. Attempts to comprehend the technological implications of these operations has been accompanied by a shift in seeing the United States Code (U.S.C.) as providing mutually exclusive authorities to government entities operating in cyberspace. While many recognize that cyberspace poses new and unique challenges to inter-title operations, it is unclear whether this de facto shift in the application of U.S.C. statutes is necessary. The U.S.C. has a limited number of exclusionary distinctions de jure, which is attested to by a long history of inter-title cooperation that efficiently and effectively supports government operations. Most of the concerns over the United States Code can be appropriately categorized in terms of oversight and compliance requirements, fiscal controls, and statutory responsibilities. This thesis addresses these statutory concerns and culminates with a planning framework that can be used to enable military and other government agencies to support multiple title authorities cooperating seamlessly to effectively plan and execute cyberspace operations.

Subjects: cyberspace; congressional oversight; title authorities; United States Code; U.S.C.; cyberspace operations; inter-title; joint planning; operational planning; cyberspace planner; 6 USC; Title 6; 10 USC; Title 10; 14 USC; Title 14; 18 USC; Title 18; 28 USC; Title 28; 32 USC; Title 32; 50 USC; Title 50; operational framework; inter-title framework; cyberspace framework