No transparency here: the Obama administration won't release the total budget for the naitonal intelligence program, the line item that funds the intelligence community remains "classified," even though it's hard to conceive of a case where the release of that single number -- it was $44 billion in 2005 -- would harm national security.
Actually, I'm being deliberately misleading, too. Most intelligence programs are run by and funded through Department of Defense appropriations; the three DoD intelligence budgets account for at least $30 billion.
FYI: any member of Congress can request a briefing on the classified budget, although certain programs -- so-called "waived" programs -- are disclosed only to senior members of defense and intelligence appropriation subcommittees.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/02/budget-easter-egg-intelligence-classified/1010/
