CIA big winner in funding, leaked spy budget documents reveal

When it comes to federal funding of America’s top security and surveillance agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency wins big.

Documents obtained by The Washington Post on spy agencies’ top secret budget requests indicate the CIA, among all the security agencies, asks for the largest share. The total budget request for the year ending Sept. 30 for all the spy agencies was $52.6 billion — a slight decrease from the 2011 request, which was $54.6 billion. But of that $52.6 billion, the CIA requested $14.7 billion

The next two largest budget requests came from the National Security Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office, at $10.8 billion and $10.3 billion, respectively.

The Post reported it received the current budget request documents from NSA information leaker Edward Snowden and was withholding — at the government’s request — some of the more detailed line items, for security reasons.

The CIA is responsible for conducting intelligence operations but also overseeing drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen on suspected terrorists.

The budget requests came from a total of 16 U.S. spy agencies, that employ about 107,000, The New York Times reported. That work force includes 21,800 contract employees — but not the tens of thousands of contractors who work as a support force to the agencies.