US intelligence agencies will see a five percent drop in funding under a proposed 2015 budget, officials said Thursday, after a year marked by controversy over far-reaching electronic spying.<\/p>\n
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the requested budget for most of the country’s 17 spy services came to $45.6 billion for fiscal year 2015, which begins October 1.<\/p>\n
The proposed budget, which must be approved by Congress, is lower than the 2014 national intelligence program budget, at $48.2 billion.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon is also planning for a slight drop in funding for intelligence activities that support the military, requesting $13.3 billion for next fiscal year, officials said.<\/p>\n
The 2014 budget had allocated $14 billion for the military intelligence program.<\/p>\n
In keeping with past practice, Clapper’s office, or ODNI, did not divulge any further details or provide a breakdown of the budget.<\/p>\n
“Any and all subsidiary information concerning the National Intelligence Program budget, whether the information concerns particular intelligence agencies or particular intelligence programs, will not be publicly disclosed,” ODNI said in a brief statement.<\/p>\n
Given the secrecy surrounding America’s spy agencies and their funding, it remains unclear if the fallout from ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks has had any impact on the National Security Agency’s 2015 budget.<\/p>\n
The trove of classified files disclosed by Snowden since June included documents — leaked to The Washington Post — that shed some light on the so-called “black budget” that funds for different spy operations and programs.<\/p>\n
The documents gave a breakdown on proposed intelligence spending for 2013, with the CIA budget ranking first at $14.7 billion, followed by the NSA at $10.8 billion and the National Reconnaissance Office at $10.3 billion.<\/p>\n
The NRO operates America’s network of spy satellites.<\/p>\n
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