Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is a domestic security

service, the CIA has no law enforcement function and is mainly focused on
overseas intelligence gathering, with only limited domestic intelligence
collection.[6] Though it is not the only agency of the federal government of
the United States specializing in HUMINT, the CIA serves as the national
manager for coordination of HUMINT activities across the U.S. intelligence
community. Moreover, the CIA is the only agency authorized by law to carry
out and oversee covert action at the behest of the President.[6][7][8][9] It
exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as
the Special Activities Center.[10] The CIA was also instrumental in
establishing intelligence services in several U.S. allied countries, such as
Germany's BND.
Before the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the CIA
Director concurrently served as the head of the Intelligence Community;
today, the CIA is organized under the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI, the CIA has grown in size
as a result of the September 11 attacks. In 2013, The Washington
Post reported that in the fiscal year 2010, the CIA had the largest budget of
all IC agencies, exceeding previous estimates.[3][11]
The CIA has increasingly expanded its role, including
covert paramilitary operations.[3] One of its largest divisions, the Information
Operations Center (IOC), has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to
offensive cyber-operations.[12]
Purpose
Organizational structure
Training
Budget
Employees
Relationship with other intelligence agencies