Every year, the U.S. government spends over $100 billion on classified intelligence and defense programs — collectively known as the "black budget." These programs operate with minimal congressional oversight and zero public accountability. This tracker aggregates what is publicly known from budget justification documents, FOIA releases, USASpending.gov data, and investigative reporting.
$107.6B
Total Intelligence Budget (FY2024)
National Intelligence Program + Military Intelligence Program
$72.4B
National Intelligence Program
CIA, NSA, NRO, NGA, DIA and others
$35.2B
Military Intelligence Program
DoD intelligence activities
18
Intelligence Community Agencies
Most budgets remain classified at line-item level
Estimated Classified Budget by Year (2000–2024)
Top Agencies by Estimated Classified Funding
~500+
Programs acknowledged but not publicly itemized
| Program |
Agency |
Est. Cost |
Status |
Source |
| F-117 Nighthawk |
USAF / Lockheed |
$6.6B |
Declassified (1988) |
DoD budget docs |
| B-2 Spirit |
USAF / Northrop |
$44.7B |
Declassified |
GAO reports |
| STELLARWIND (NSA Surveillance) |
NSA |
Classified |
Leaked (2013) |
Snowden documents |
| PRISM |
NSA |
~$20M/yr |
Leaked (2013) |
Snowden / The Guardian |
| B-21 Raider |
USAF / Northrop |
$80B+ (est.) |
Active — largely classified |
DoD budget justification |
| NRO Satellite Programs |
NRO |
$17.8B (FY24) |
Active — classified details |
NRO Congressional justification |
| AATIP (UAP Program) |
DoD / DIA |
$22M |
Acknowledged (2017) |
NY Times / DoD |
| Area 51 / Groom Lake |
USAF / CIA |
Classified |
Acknowledged (2013) |
CIA FOIA release |
| XS-1 / Phantom Express |
DARPA |
$146M |
Cancelled (2020) |
DARPA public records |
| MQ-Next (Drone successor) |
USAF |
Classified |
Active development |
DoD budget request |
From MuckRock.com — public FOIA request database
DoD responds to FOIA request on classified drone programs
MuckRock — Heavily redacted, 47 pages released
CIA declassifies Cold War-era satellite reconnaissance documents
National Security Archive — 312 pages
NSA releases partially redacted internal newsletter archive (SIDtoday)
The Intercept / Snowden Archive — Ongoing
DIA budget justification documents FY2023 — redacted version
Defense.gov — 89 pages with sections withheld
FBI releases files on domestic surveillance programs (1960s-70s)
FBI Vault — COINTELPRO related documents
Live data from the federal spending API. Searching for contracts with undisclosed recipients or classified agencies.
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USASpending.gov API
No Auth
All federal contracts, grants, and spending — searchable by agency, year, recipient
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DoD Budget Materials
No Auth
Congressional Budget Justification PDFs — published annually by DoD, partially redacted
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Federation of American Scientists
No Auth
Government secrecy report card — tracking classification trends
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MuckRock
No Auth
Public FOIA request database — thousands of defense-related releases
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OpenSecrets API
Free Key
Lobbying data and defense contractor spending