Intelligence operations carry $80B price tag
By
Nick Wakeman
The government has released the topline budget for intelligence operations for the first time.
Long considered a national security secret, spending on military and civilian intelligence operations has been revealed to have reached $80.1 billion.
The National Intelligence Program, which includes the CIA and other intelligence agencies that report to the Director of National Intelligence, spent $53.1 billion in fiscal 2010. The Military Intelligence Program spent $27 billion.
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In announcing the military spending, the Defense Department said the figure included the base budget and supplemental appropriations. The release does not “jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP,” the two-paragraph release states.
Other figures would not be released, DOD said.
The figures reveal that intelligence spending rose by 7 percent in fiscal 2010, according to the Washington Post.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-Calif.) vowed to cut the budget in the next Congress.
“The intelligence budget has doubled since 2001, with huge growth in personnel, facilities and operations costs,” Feinstein said in a statement. “Given the nation’s financial situation, it is my view that the intelligence budget needs to be carefully reviewed and that cuts will be necessary.”
Feinstein is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.