Intelligence has come a long way since the times around 1,000 BC, as Egyptian hieroglyphics revealed, and will only continue to grow in the future. The Intelligence Community (IC) will face challenges far into the future, but the next few years will involve budget restructuring/cuts, implementing cybersecurity, and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as a transition phase to U.S. domestic impact on intelligence operations. The intelligence community is likely to revert to pre-9/11 requirements, thus hindering or withdrawing post-9/11 implementations and requirements. The intelligence community has been the number one priority since 9/11 and has received maximum budget support, but is at risk of being reduced due to the end of operations in Iraq and the reduction of operations in Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper is concerned that a new round of federal budget cuts will hamper overall intelligence operations as it did in the 1990s. This is in reference to sequestration and it is more common for the intelligence community to send employees on leave to save money rather than letting them go due to budget cuts (Davidson 9 April 2013). In 2010 the IC received $86.63 billion and over the past three years has seen a decrease in support of $13.47 billion and does not take into account sequestration. This same decline occurred in the 1990s just as indicated by DNI James Clapper and was cut from about $45 billion to about $37 billion and then had a significant spike around the time of 9/11 (Erwin and Belasco). Additionally, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn testified to the House Armed Services Committee… midway through… April 27, 2014). Erwin, Marshall and Belasco, Amy. “Intelligence Spending and Appropriations: Issues for Congress.” Congressional Research Service: Informing the Legislative Debate Since 1914. https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R42061.pdf (accessed April 27, 2014).Pellerin, Cheryl. "United States Department of Defense." Defense.gov news article: Officials: Cuts, unstable budget threaten intelligence mission. http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119404 (accessed April 27, 2014). “The Global Challenge of Terrorism with Weapons of Mass Destruction.” The White House. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/65477.pdf (accessed April 27, 2014).Wilshusen, Gregory. “Cybersecurity: A better defined and implemented national strategy is needed to address persistent challenges.” U.S. Government Accountability Office. http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652817.pdf (accessed April 27, 2014.