CIA has paid millions to a consulting firm to help with reorganization

WASHINGTON — The CIA has paid more than $10 million to a management consulting firm advising senior U.S. intelligence officials on a broad reorganization that agency Director John Brennan began earlier this year, current and former U.S. officials said.

The agency also is requiring some of its departments to surrender portions of their annual budgets in an effort to collect enough money to cover other costs associated with the restructuring, officials said.

The payments to the firm, McKinsey & Co., have been viewed with skepticism by some at CIA headquarters and on Capitol Hill at a time when the agency is confronting significant new security threats as well as pressure to trim costs.

Several current and former U.S. officials said they were surprised by the magnitude of the consulting contract, an arrangement that officials said Brennan did not mention to workers when he announced the reorganization or explain to lawmakers in briefings.

"What is the rationale?" said a U.S. official familiar with the contract. "When you're talking about millions and millions of dollars, there ought to be a reason why the money is being spent."

The sum paid to McKinsey represents a tiny fraction of a CIA budget that is believed to exceed $12 billion annually. But current and former U.S. officials said they could not recall a previous case in which the CIA had hired an outside consulting firm at such expense.

CIA spokesman Dean Boyd declined to comment on the contract or overall cost of the reorganization, but said the agency is "implementing this plan within our existing budget and without seeking additional funds from Congress."

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