Since it’s Clapper, who has a tendency to lie to Congress, we have no idea whether or not what he’s saying is actually true.
But Obama’s golf courses are still open, and park police are still being delegated to keep 90 year old vets out of open air parks, that’s the important thing!
Via NPR:
James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told Congress this week that the partial federal government shutdown has forced the furlough of some 70 percent of employees throughout the intelligence community.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Clapper, a 50-year veteran of intelligence work.
So what impact is all this having on the spy world?
A senior U.S. official tells NPR that because of the shutdown, some intelligence agencies are focusing only on the biggest threats: counterterrorism and nuclear nonproliferation. So some other issues, such as detecting and defending against cyberattacks and keeping an eye on ballistic missile launches around the world, are falling by the wayside. They just don’t have the personnel to keep track of everything.