US official: Shutdown harms spies' mission
Washington: U.S. intelligence officials say the government shutdown is seriously damaging the intelligence community's ability to guard against threats. But they also say they're keeping counter terrorism staff on duty, while they are worried about
NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander says he has kept on employees working on counterterrorism, but that the shutdown has had a huge impact on morale.
The total number of employees at such agencies is classified.