Congress/executive branch: "We're cutting your budget and firing the people in charge of this mess"
The NSA etc: "No you're not, we have all your calls and emails and every shitty thing you ever did on record and will leak it if you dare so much as look at our budget. And that's just for starters, wait until the FBI raid your house and find your computer filled with CP and you try the 'the CIA did it' defence in court. Or maybe we'll correct the results of the next election?"
Congress/executive branch: "We urgently need to increase their budget, and we will not be disclosing why"
The truth is, you cannot control or oversee these programs anymore than you can the military. And it's worse, for the military to stage a coup, they have to actually march into Washington and use guns. People know it has happened. These guys do it all in secret.
The NSA etc: "No you're not, we have all your calls and emails and every shitty thing you ever did on record and will leak it if you dare so much as look at our budget. And that's just for starters, wait until the FBI raid your house and find your computer filled with CP and you try the 'the CIA did it' defence in court. Or maybe we'll correct the results of the next election?"
Congress/executive branch: "We urgently need to increase their budget, and we will not be disclosing why"
The truth is, you cannot control or oversee these programs anymore than you can the military. And it's worse, for the military to stage a coup, they have to actually march into Washington and use guns. People know it has happened. These guys do it all in secret.