Obama budget cuts funds for US spy agencies
National Intelligence Director James Clapper warns that spy agencies will have to "do less with less".
Pentagon said it had requested $14 billion for military intelligence programs, down from $21.5 billion spent in fiscal year 2012. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
WASHINGTON:
President Barack Obama's proposed budget unveiled Wednesday calls for cuts of at least $4.4 billion to America's intelligence agencies, in a sign of growing fiscal pressures.
Obama is requesting $48.2 billion for the CIA and other spy agencies starting October 1, down from a proposed $52.6 billion for fiscal year 2013, according to the national intelligence director's office.
Separately, the Pentagon said it had requested $14 billion for military intelligence programs, down from $21.5 billion spent in fiscal year 2012.
The figure reflected a trend in recent years, with the Pentagon -- which funds a number of spy services -- scaling back intelligence spending since 2010.
But the numbers released did not include funding related to the war in Afghanistan or other "overseas contingency operations," officials said.
The intelligence budgets pay for an array of spy satellites and high-tech equipment as well as tens of thousands of employees, including analysts, linguistic experts, cryptologists, cyber specialists, paramilitary operations such as drone strikes and traditional spies in the field.
The US government only recently began disclosing figures on intelligence funding, but the latest announcement offered no breakdown of the spending on what is widely considered to be the world's largest intelligence budget.
Apart from the funding reductions envisaged in the president's request, the intelligence agencies are already facing steep automatic budget cuts due to a long-running political impasse in Congress.
The rolling cuts have prompted National Intelligence Director James Clapper to warn that spy agencies will have to "do less with less" and that reduced funding could undermine their ability to prevent a potential attack on the United States.
"We will reduce human, technical and counter-intelligence operations, resulting in fewer collection opportunities, while increasing the risk of strategic surprise," Clapper told lawmakers in March.
Embassy security spending
President Barack Obama included $4 billion to improve security at hundreds of overseas diplomatic posts in his budget proposal on Wednesday, in the wake of the deadly September 11, 2012, attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya.
The money would secure overseas personnel and facilities, including enough money to increase embassy security construction to $2.2 billion, as recommended after an independent review of the Benghazi attacks.
Embassy security has been under particular scrutiny – amid harsh criticism of the Obama administration by Republican lawmakers - since the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in the eastern Libyan city.
The proposal reflects shifting US priorities as Washington winds down its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Programs in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan account for $6.8 billion of the budget proposal, $4.2 billion less than requested in 2012. The budget plan calls for $2.1 billion for Iraq, $3.4 billion for Afghanistan and $1.4 billion for Pakistan.
"We owe it to the American people to do our part to help solve the fiscal problems that threaten not only our future economic health, but also our standing in the global order," Secretary of State John Kerry wrote in a letter to Congress.
"As such, we have proposed necessary cuts, where it will not adversely affect our national security, and we propose modest increases, where they are necessary to achieve our highest priorities," he said.
Overall, Obama has asked for $47.8 billion for the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, a six percent decrease from 2012 levels, because of the lower requests for Iraq and Afghanistan.
As expected, the budget proposes the most sweeping change in US food aid in decades, with a plan intended to feed more people and deliver food more quickly. It would end a practice of buying food from American farmers and shipping it overseas.
Under the plan, Washington would donate $1.1 billion to a disaster relief account for food vouchers that would be used to buy food from suppliers located near areas of need.
Shipping can double food aid costs because, by law, supplies must be transported on U.S.-flagged vessels.
An additional $250 million would be provided to economic development projects and $75 million would be earmarked for emergency relief.
The food aid proposal could face a tough fight. Aid groups disagree over whether the switch to cash donation is advisable. And two dozen senators wrote the White House in March to try to derail the change.
However, proponents said the plan would let the United States feed millions more people each year, while assisting farmers in poor countries by buying their crops.
President Barack Obama's proposed budget unveiled Wednesday calls for cuts of at least $4.4 billion to America's intelligence agencies, in a sign of growing fiscal pressures.
Obama is requesting $48.2 billion for the CIA and other spy agencies starting October 1, down from a proposed $52.6 billion for fiscal year 2013, according to the national intelligence director's office.
Separately, the Pentagon said it had requested $14 billion for military intelligence programs, down from $21.5 billion spent in fiscal year 2012.
The figure reflected a trend in recent years, with the Pentagon -- which funds a number of spy services -- scaling back intelligence spending since 2010.
But the numbers released did not include funding related to the war in Afghanistan or other "overseas contingency operations," officials said.
The intelligence budgets pay for an array of spy satellites and high-tech equipment as well as tens of thousands of employees, including analysts, linguistic experts, cryptologists, cyber specialists, paramilitary operations such as drone strikes and traditional spies in the field.
The US government only recently began disclosing figures on intelligence funding, but the latest announcement offered no breakdown of the spending on what is widely considered to be the world's largest intelligence budget.
Apart from the funding reductions envisaged in the president's request, the intelligence agencies are already facing steep automatic budget cuts due to a long-running political impasse in Congress.
The rolling cuts have prompted National Intelligence Director James Clapper to warn that spy agencies will have to "do less with less" and that reduced funding could undermine their ability to prevent a potential attack on the United States.
"We will reduce human, technical and counter-intelligence operations, resulting in fewer collection opportunities, while increasing the risk of strategic surprise," Clapper told lawmakers in March.
Embassy security spending
President Barack Obama included $4 billion to improve security at hundreds of overseas diplomatic posts in his budget proposal on Wednesday, in the wake of the deadly September 11, 2012, attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya.
The money would secure overseas personnel and facilities, including enough money to increase embassy security construction to $2.2 billion, as recommended after an independent review of the Benghazi attacks.
Embassy security has been under particular scrutiny – amid harsh criticism of the Obama administration by Republican lawmakers - since the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in the eastern Libyan city.
The proposal reflects shifting US priorities as Washington winds down its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Programs in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan account for $6.8 billion of the budget proposal, $4.2 billion less than requested in 2012. The budget plan calls for $2.1 billion for Iraq, $3.4 billion for Afghanistan and $1.4 billion for Pakistan.
"We owe it to the American people to do our part to help solve the fiscal problems that threaten not only our future economic health, but also our standing in the global order," Secretary of State John Kerry wrote in a letter to Congress.
"As such, we have proposed necessary cuts, where it will not adversely affect our national security, and we propose modest increases, where they are necessary to achieve our highest priorities," he said.
Overall, Obama has asked for $47.8 billion for the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, a six percent decrease from 2012 levels, because of the lower requests for Iraq and Afghanistan.
As expected, the budget proposes the most sweeping change in US food aid in decades, with a plan intended to feed more people and deliver food more quickly. It would end a practice of buying food from American farmers and shipping it overseas.
Under the plan, Washington would donate $1.1 billion to a disaster relief account for food vouchers that would be used to buy food from suppliers located near areas of need.
Shipping can double food aid costs because, by law, supplies must be transported on U.S.-flagged vessels.
An additional $250 million would be provided to economic development projects and $75 million would be earmarked for emergency relief.
The food aid proposal could face a tough fight. Aid groups disagree over whether the switch to cash donation is advisable. And two dozen senators wrote the White House in March to try to derail the change.
However, proponents said the plan would let the United States feed millions more people each year, while assisting farmers in poor countries by buying their crops.