CIA recalls core personnel to tackle security threats

CIA Director John Brennan said the agency will be calling back to work employees who were furloughed amid the government shutdown, as keeping staff at current reduced levels "would pose a threat," according to a statement released Tuesday.

Due to the shutdown there are important functions that the agency will not be able to perform, Brennan said. But in an effort to mitigate unspecified threats during the funding hiatus the CIA will begin recalling employees who are deemed essential to foreign intelligence collection, operations, and counterintelligence as of Wednesday.

The decision was made "because of the potential adverse cumulative and unseen impact on our national security from the now week-long furloughing of a significant portion of the CIA workforce, as keeping our staffing at the dramatically reduced levels of the past week would pose a threat," he said.

Brennan said the decision does not mean the CIA will recall all of its employees, and only affects those who are involved in its "core mission."

The recall will ensure that the agency can "carry out its mission" and provide President Barack Obama with critical intelligence during the lapse in funding that began on Oct. 1, the statement said.

The CIA is currently reviewing who will be recalled under the revised staffing plans, but said it cannot guarantee payment of the recalled employees during the shutdown.

"I know that we are all extremely frustrated at the continuing budget impasse, which has caused a partial shutdown of government functions and a furloughing of hundreds of thousands of government employees," Brennan said.

"The past week certainly has been a challenging one for CIA as well as for other U.S. Government departments and agencies, and we enter a second week not knowing when we will be able to return to normal operating conditions."

Al Jazeera and wire services