stovepiping

Stovepiping is the practice of passing information directly up a chain of command without horizontal review or analysis, bypassing normal channels where it might be challenged or contextualized.

The term comes from the vertical pipe that vents a stove—information rises straight up without filtering sideways.

In intelligence and government contexts, stovepiping often carries negative connotations, suggesting that raw or unvetted data reaches decision-makers without proper scrutiny: The agency was accused of stovepiping dubious intelligence to justify the invasion.