Although I suspect that most of the NSA’s illegal surveillance of Americans is automated, this is the best silver lining to date for the government shutdown. And that is saying something.
David DeGerolamo
Over Six Thousand NSA Workers Furloughed
First, the good news. During a Senate hearing earlier today, Gen. Keith Alexander (in charge of America’s Secret Cyber Army) said: “We have over 960 Ph.D.s, over 4,000 computer scientists, over a thousand mathematicians. They are furloughed. Our nation needs people like this.”
Now the bad news. While the number of NSA employees is officially classified, in 2012 the NSA said more than 30,000 employees work at Ft. Meade and other facilities. In 2012 John C. Inglis, the deputy director, said that the total number of NSA employees is “somewhere between 37,000 and one billion” as a joke, and stated that the agency is “probably the biggest employer of introverts.” In 2013 Der Spiegel, likely using source data from Edward Snowden, said that the NSA had 40,000 employees.
More from The Hill:
Well that is some good news!!!!