Major Obama screw up during shutdown put the country at risk

McClatchy:

It may be one of the most serious missteps of the federal government shutdown.

After weeks of planning, the nation’s spy chief sent home nearly three-quarters of the workers at the government’s intelligence agencies when faced with the partial shutdown. The move, James Clapper later admitted himself, put the United States at greater risk of terrorist attacks. He then reversed course and brought thousands of employees back to work.

A review by McClatchy finds that lawmakers, former intelligence officials and national security experts say they were shocked that the administration furloughed the bulk of federal workers at 16 intelligence agencies, many of them tasked with the most important job in the government: safeguarding lives.

“It’s difficult for me to understand,” said Leon Panetta, who served as the director of the CIA and the secretary of defense under President Barack Obama. “People that are involved in our intelligence are critical. You can’t possibly put 70 percent on furlough and not harm national security.”
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It could not have happened if Obama had been doing his job.  He is responsible for acting like a commander in chief and making sure those who are responsible for defending the country are on the job and have what they need to do it.  I get the impression he told all agencies heads to release as many people as possible without making any distinctions between those that truly were essential and those who were not.  With the EPA, it clearly made no difference, but with intelligence agencies it could have been disastrous.