On a different note, considering the popular myth that government by default is incompetent, this is a remarkable degree of competence, surpassing even the private sector.
NSA have a lot of brute force behind their backs. They have a rubber stamping court, are allowed to read existing laws as a weak guidelines, almost unlimited budget and the lucky fact that the majority of the world's IT IP is located in the hands of american companies.
It will be hard to not produce results with all that.
Governments usually are competent in their own way. What they usually lack is subtlety and elegance.
Not necessarily a remarkable degree of competence, just a remarkable degree of unaccountable budgeting.