United States intelligence budget

The United States intelligence budget comprises all the funding for the 16 agencies of the United States Intelligence Community. These agencies and other programs fit into one of the intelligence budget’s two components, the National Intelligence Program (NIP) and the Military Intelligence Program (MIP). As with other parts of the federal budget, the US intelligence budget runs according to the Fiscal year (FY), not the calendar year. Before government finances are spent on intelligence, the funds must first be authorized and appropriated by committees in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

Pursuant to a suggestion by 9/11 Commission, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) released the top line amount given to the NIP for fiscal year 2009 as 49.8 billion USD. In FY2010, the NIP budget was 53.1 billion USD, and the MIP budget 27 billion USD, amounting to a total of 80 billion USD.

In 2007, it was revealed that 70% of the intelligence budget went to defense contracting companies.

Experts estimate that total spending on American military and non-military intelligence during the Cold War peaked at $71 billion (in 2013 dollars) in the late 1980s. By 1994 spending for the non-military National Intelligence Program (NIP) had declined to $43.4 billion. Fiscal 2013 intelligence spending exceeded the Cold War peak, at $52.6 billion for NIP and $23 billion for military intelligence programs. In constant dollars it is about double the estimated 2001 budget and 25% greater than the 2006 budget. From the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 to 2013, the government has spent more than $500 billion on intelligence.

...
Wikipedia