The CIA and Department of Defense

The US Department of Defense is planning to withdraw most support for CIA counter-terror missions by the beginning of next year, in a move expected to have a broad effect on the scope of the intelligence agency’s paramilitary operations, a senior defense official and former senior administration official with direct knowledge of the move told CNN. Reportedly, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller informed CIA Director Gina Haspel of the decision in a letter. The same report said Biden will reverse the move.

As this is clearly an unnamed official, we await a formal DOD announcement. But in the meantime take a look at the complexities of the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense.

The U. S. Intelligence Community is a very complex network that includes the CIA, the U.S. Intelligence Community and sub agencies, including the three Secret, Foreign and Federal Intelligence Services as well as DHS and DEA.

The question comes to who controls the purse for the CIA budget.

Congress cannot exercise the power of the purse with respect to intelligence agencies like the CIA in exactly the same way as it does with other departments and agencies. Since the appropriation for the CIA is classified, it cannot be the subject of public hearings or public mark-ups nor can it be openly debated on the floor of either House like the appropriations of other government agencies. in theory any member could ask for a closed session to discuss the appropriation for CIA, but none has ever done so, nor is it likely that the leadership of either chamber would allow it. Indeed, in the his- tory of the Agency, never once has the full House or Senate debated its appropriation. 

The CIA appropriation was originally hidden in the budgets of the State and Defense Departments, and later Defense alone, for security reasons. But this funding “contrivance” has had, over the long term, vastly more important consequences for the Agency than merely preventing the disclosure of its funding level. It is doubtful, for example, that the exponential growth that the Agency experienced in the first four years of its existence (and at other times) could have happened if its funding had not been part of the much larger defense budget. There simply would not have been the latitude in the budgets of smaller departments and agencies to accommodate such significant increases.

While some at CIA would undoubtedly prefer, as a matter of institutional pride, having an independent appropriation (as opposed to having the Agency’s money appropriated to the secretary of defense), it is doubtful that the Agency would have fared so well so often from a fiscal standpoint if it had had to face the vagaries of the congressional appropriations process from its own isolated perch.

The Defense budget over the years has also been subject to fewer cuts than the budgets of most departments and agencies. Indeed, the long-term trend of the defense budget has been one of gradual rise, allowing CIA, for the most part, to rise along with it. There are also practical advantages to being in the DoD bills. These are bills that Congress will put through every year, and they are handled by the most powerful members of Congress and, thus, are less often challenged by the congressional rank and file.

The U.S. Intelligence Community is composed of the following 17 organizations:

Two independent agencies—the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA);

Eight Department of Defense elements—the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and intelligence elements of the four DoD services; the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.

Air Force Intelligence

The U.S. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (USAF ISR) Enterprise is America’s leading provider of finished intelligence derived from airborne, space, and cyberspace sensors.  The USAF ISR Enterprise delivers decision advantage in order to enable commanders to achieve kinetic and non-kinetic effects on targets anywhere on the globe in support of national, strategic, operational, and tactical requirements.  The AF/A2 is the USAF’s Senior Intelligence Officer and is responsible for functional management of all Air Force global integrated ISR capabilities, including oversight of planning, programming, and budgeting; developing and implementing the Air Force policies and guidance for managing Air Force global integrated ISR activities; and professional development, training, education, readiness, and deployment of 50,000 military and civilian United States Air Force intelligence personnel. 

Maj. Gen. Mary F. O’Brien, USAF, is the Commander for ISR.

Army Intelligence

U.S. Army Intelligence (G-2) is responsible for policy formulation, planning, programming, budgeting, management, staff supervision, evaluation, and oversight for intelligence activities for the Department of the Army. The G-2 is responsible for the overall coordination of the five major military intelligence (MI) disciplines within the Army: Imagery Intelligence, Signals Intelligence, Human Intelligence, Measurement and Signature Intelligence, and Counterintelligence and Security Countermeasures.

LTG Scott D. Berrier, USA, is the deputy chief of staff, G-2.

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior U.S. policymakers. The CIA director is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The director manages the operations, personnel, and budget of the CIA and acts as the National Human Source Intelligence manager. The CIA is separated into seven basic components: Directorate of Analysis, Directorate of Operations, Directorate of Science and Technology, Directorate of Support, Directorate of Digital Innovation, Mission Centers, and Offices of the Director.  They carry out “the intelligence cycle,” the process of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence information to top U.S. government officials.

Coast Guard Intelligence

The Coast Guard’s broad responsibilities include protecting citizens from the sea (maritime safety), protecting America from threats delivered by the sea (maritime security), and protecting the sea itself (maritime stewardship). The Coast Guard’s persistent presence in the maritime domain, due to its diverse mission sets and broad legal authorities, allows it to fill a unique niche within the Intelligence Community. Because of its unique access, emphasis, and expertise in the maritime domain Coast Guard Intelligence can collect and report intelligence that not only supports Coast Guard missions, but also supports national objectives. Coast Guard Intelligence strives to create decision advantage to advance U.S. interests by providing timely, actionable, and relevant intelligence to shape Coast Guard operations, planning, and decision-making, and to support national and homeland security intelligence requirements. 

The Coast Guard became a member of the Intelligence Community Dec. 28, 2001.

Defense Intelligence Agency

The Defense Intelligence Agency is a Department of Defense combat support agency. With more than 16,500 military and civilian employees worldwide, DIA is a major producer and manager of foreign military intelligence and provides military intelligence to warfighters, defense policymakers and force planners, in the DOD and the Intelligence Community, in support of U.S. military planning and operations and weapon systems acquisition. The DIA director serves as principal adviser to the secretary of defense and to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters of military intelligence. The director also chairs the Military Intelligence Board, which coordinates activities of the defense intelligence community.

Department of Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence is responsible for the intelligence and counterintelligence activities throughout the DOE complex, including nearly 30 intelligence and counterintelligence offices nationwide. The mission is to protect, enable, and represent the vast scientific brain trust resident in DOE’s laboratories and plants. The office protects vital national security information and technologies, representing intellectual property of incalculable value, and provides unmatched scientific and technical expertise to the U.S. government to respond to foreign intelligence, terrorist and cyber threats, to solve the hardest problems associated with U.S. energy security, and to address a wide range of other national security issues.

Steven K. Black is the director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence.

Department of Homeland Security

The Office of Intelligence and Analysis is responsible for using information and intelligence from multiple sources to identify and assess current and future threats to the U.S. DHS Intelligence focuses on four strategic areas: Promote understanding of threats through intelligence analysis; Collect information and intelligence pertinent to homeland security; Share information necessary for action; and Manage intelligence for the homeland security enterprise. The Under Secretary for I&A also serves as DHS’ chief intelligence officer and is responsible to both the secretary of Homeland Security and the director of National Intelligence.

David J. Glawe is the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis.

Department of State

The Bureau of Intelligence and Research provides the Secretary of State with timely, objective analysis of global developments as well as real-time insights from all-source intelligence. It serves as the focal point within the Department of State for all policy issues and activities involving the Intelligence Community. The INR Assistant Secretary reports directly to the Secretary of State and serves as the Secretary’s principal adviser on all intelligence matters. INR’s expert, independent foreign affairs analysts draw on all-source intelligence, diplomatic reporting, INR’s public opinion polling, and interaction with U.S. and foreign scholars. Their strong regional and functional backgrounds allow them to respond rapidly to changing policy priorities and to provide early warning and in-depth analysis of events and trends that affect U.S. foreign policy and national security interests.

Department of the Treasury

The Office of Intelligence and Analysis was established by the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal 2004. OIA is responsible for the receipt, analysis, collation, and dissemination of foreign intelligence and foreign counterintelligence information related to the operation and responsibilities of the Department of the Treasury. OIA is a component of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). TFI marshals the Department’s intelligence and enforcement functions with the twin aims of safeguarding the financial system against illicit use and combating rogue nations, terrorist facilitators, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, money launderers, drug kingpins, and other national security threats.

Drug Enforcement Administration

The Drug Enforcement Administration is responsible for enforcing the controlled substance laws and regulations of the United States. DEA’s Office of National Security Intelligence (ONSI) became a member of the IC in 2006. ONSI facilitates full and appropriate intelligence coordination and information sharing with other members of the U.S. Intelligence Community and homeland security elements. Its goal is to enhance the U.S.’s efforts to reduce the supply of drugs, protect national security, and combat global terrorism. DEA has 21 field divisions in the U.S. and more than 80 offices in more than 60 countries worldwide.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI, as an intelligence and law enforcement agency, is responsible for understanding threats to our national security and penetrating national and transnational networks that have a desire and capability to harm the U.S. The Intelligence Branch is the strategic leader of the FBI’s Intelligence Program and drives collaboration to achieve the full integration of intelligence and operations, and it proactively engages with the Bureau’s partners across the intelligence and law enforcement communities. By overseeing intelligence policy and guidance, the Intelligence Branch ensures the FBI’s intelligence production remains objective and strikes the correct balance between strategic and tactical work.

Joshua D. Skule is the executive assistant director of the Intelligence Branch.

Marine Corps Intelligence

The U.S. Marine Corps produces tactical and operational intelligence for battlefield support. Its IC component is comprised of all intelligence professionals in the Marine Corps responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of intelligence and supporting activities within the USMC. The department supports the commandant of the Marine Corps in his role as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represents the service in Joint and Intelligence Community matters, and exercises supervision over the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity. The department has service staff responsibility for geospatial intelligence, advanced geospatial intelligence, signals intelligence, human intelligence, counterintelligence, and ensures there is a single synchronized strategy for the development of the Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Enterprise. The Marine Corps’ director of intelligence is the commandant’s principal intelligence staff officer and the functional manager for intelligence, counterintelligence, and cryptologic matters.

Brig. Gen. Dimitri Henry, USMC, is the director of intelligence.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency provides timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security objectives. Information collected and processed by NGA is tailored for customer-specific solutions. By giving customers ready access to geospatial intelligence, NGA provides support to civilian and military leaders and contributes to the state of readiness of U.S. military forces. NGA also contributes to humanitarian efforts such as tracking floods and fires, and in peacekeeping. NGA is a Department of Defense Combat Support Agency. Headquartered in Springfield, Va., NGA operates major facilities in the St. Louis, Mo. and Washington, D.C. areas. The agency also fields support teams worldwide.

National Reconnaissance Office

The National Reconnaissance Office designs, builds and operates the nation’s reconnaissance satellites. NRO products, provided to an expanding list of customers like the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense, can warn of potential trouble spots around the world, help plan military operations, and monitor the environment. As part of the Intelligence Community, the NRO plays a primary role in achieving information superiority for the U.S. Government and Armed Forces. A DOD agency, the NRO is staffed by DOD and CIA personnel. It is funded through the National Reconnaissance Program, part of the National Foreign Intelligence Program.

Christopher Scolese is the director of the NRO.

National Security Agency/Central Security Service

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is the nation’s cryptologic organization that coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and to produce foreign signals intelligence information. A high-technology organization, NSA is at the forefront of communications and information technology. NSA is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the U.S. government and is said to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the United States and perhaps the world. Founded in 1952, NSA is part of the Department of Defense and a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. The Agency supports military customers, national policymakers, and the counterterrorism and counterintelligence communities, as well as key international allies. Its workforce represents an unusual combination of specialties: analysts, engineers, physicists, mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, researchers, as well as customer relations specialists, security officers, data flow experts, managers, administrative officers and clerical assistants.

General Paul M. Nakasone, USA, is the director of NSA/commander of CSS.

Navy Intelligence

Under the direction of the Director of Naval Intelligence, the U.S. Navy’s intelligence team is the leading provider of maritime intelligence to Navy and joint/combined warfighting forces, as well as national decision makers and other partners/consumers in the U.S. National Intelligence Community. Naval Intelligence is comprised of active duty and reserve military, and civilian personnel, serving at sea and ashore around the world.

Vice Admiral Matthew Kohler is the 67th director of Naval Intelligence.

Some of the functions interlap. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) collects, evaluates, and disseminates vital information on economic, military, political, scientific, and other developments abroad to safeguard national security.

Four Mission Objectives identify the primary topical missions the IC must accomplish:

• Cyber Intelligence—provide intelligence on cyber threats;
• Counterterrorism—understand and counter those involved in terrorism and related activities;
• Counterproliferation—counter the threat and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
• Counterintelligence—thwart efforts of foreign intelligence entities.

In support of the National Security Strategy, which sets forth national security priorities, the National Intelligence Strategy (NIS) provides the IC with the mission direction of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) for the next four to five years.

FUNDING:

Per the Truman directive in 1947, funding was to come from the Departments of State, War, and the Navy, CIG had to identify the amounts involved in each departmental budget to the congressional appropriations committees.

The U.S. intelligence budget has two major components: the National Intelligence Program and the Military Intelligence Program. The National Intelligence Program includes all programs, projects and activities of the intelligence community as well as any other intelligence community programs designated jointly by the DNI and the head of department or agency, or the DNI and the President.  

The MIP is devoted to intelligence activity conducted by the military departments and agencies in the Department of Defense that support tactical U.S. military operations. In addition, other departments and agencies may engage in certain activities related to intelligence for their own mission needs that are not captured here.

The NIP budget was $62.7 Billion for 2020 and the MIP budget was $23.0 Billion.

Disclosure of Appropriated Funds

One of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission was for the Intelligence Community to declassify its budget.  This recommendation was enacted in 2007 by section 601 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act (Public Law 110-53).  This law established the requirement for the Director of National Intelligence to disclose the “aggregate amount of funds appropriated by Congress” for the NIP within 30 days of the end of the fiscal year.

Disclosure of Requested Funds

The National Intelligence Program budget request was first publicly disclosed in February 2011, pursuant to a requirement enacted by Congress in Section 364 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The Military Intelligence Program budget request was first released in February 2012.

The updated aggregate amount of FY 2020 appropriations requested for the NIP is $62.8 billion.

For a deep dive into the evolution of the Intelligence Community and its funding with focus CIA, visit HERE