The U.S. Department of Defense’s Military Intelligence Program (MIP) will receive $30.9 billion in fiscal year 2026, the Pentagon announced. That is about $3 billion more than the FY2025 budget, but $2.7 billion less than the $33.6 billion requested for FY2026.
The department said the allocation was “aligned to the National Defense Strategy” but declined to provide further details, citing national security concerns and the classified nature of the information.
National Intelligence Program receives $78.1 billion
Separately, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announced a $78.1 billion budget for the National Intelligence Program (NIP). The figure is nearly $5 billion above last year’s level but $3.8 billion below the office’s $81.9 billion request for FY2026.
Overseen by ODNI, the NIP funds strategic intelligence gathering for policymakers. Its funding supports the CIA and NSA, along with other organizations with broad intelligence missions, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
The program also funds some of the intelligence community’s most closely held operations, conducted through sensitive compartmented information programs.
MIP supports operational and tactical priorities
Unlike the NIP, the MIP is overseen by the Pentagon. It funds defense intelligence activities focused on operational and tactical priorities supporting military operations.
The U.S. intelligence community has 18 members. Nine are Defense Department components, including the intelligence organizations of each military service. The other nine are outside the department and include the CIA, DEA, FBI and the Treasury Department’s intelligence unit.
The two budgets do not cover all intelligence spending
The NIP and MIP together do not represent total U.S. spending on intelligence. Some entities conduct intelligence-gathering activities for department-specific missions using their departments’ own funds, and are not included in either program.
The MIP also excludes certain intelligence-related platforms, including some drone programs, when intelligence gathering is not the system’s primary mission.
