On the one hand, it's pretty. Aesthetically it's nice, simple, and I generally love stark monochromatic designs.
On the other hand, this feels very unofficial and off-brand. It doesn't feel like it's a part of the U.S. government. Was that intentional? If so, why?
Why does it feel more like the site of a small (and potentially underfunded) start-up than the world's biggest and baddest intelligence agency?
Click on the "Motivational Speaker" template here and compare them: https://www.wix.com/website/templates
From my perspective, this feels very much on brand. It's a strong design playing on the "cybersecurity" feel. My 2c, as with anything related to design, YMMV.
They should lean into who they are: The biggest, baddest, most secretive government organization on the planet. THAT's their brand. That appeals to some and turns away others. But trying to pretend they're anything else will fail to persuade anyone. Those who are attracted to the truth about the CIA are likely to be turned off by this mass-appeal approach. And those who hate them are unlikely to feel differently based on this.
It's like the Freemasons: What makes them attractive to those who are interested is the secret nature of the organization. Trying to make the organization more friendly and open is counter-productive.
Lean into the mystique, gosh darn it. Very few "brands" genuinely and organically have that kind of mystery about them. The CIA, like them or not, definitely have it.
I would imagine the CIA has a particular interest in diversity -- on the operations side, they probably need people who can plausibly pass as locals in a wide variety of countries, and on the analyst side, they probably need native speakers of lots of languages, people familiar with lots of cultural contexts, etc.
Plus, I get we're catering to progressives here but in a 73% white nation would it not be cool to at least aim one non-historical FP image at that demographic?
I'm not saying one is more right over the other, but it's a reason why it happens.
Also, the etching style applied to the main portrait is visually distracting and it looks like a fingerprint over the person's face.