If that's the case, they are being sloppy, considering that everything under www.google.com is proxied through their servers, not just specific reCAPTCHA assets.
They're inheriting a considerable part of Google's attack surface. For example, Google's open redirects could be used to bypass origin checks as part of an attack on nsa.gov, or to phish NSA employees.
They appear to have change something in the past few minutes. When I first opened this HN thread it showed me Google's homepage. Now I'm also seeing that redirect.
Gmail by NSA: https://captcha.nsa.gov/intl/us/gmail/about/
They're inheriting a considerable part of Google's attack surface. For example, Google's open redirects could be used to bypass origin checks as part of an attack on nsa.gov, or to phish NSA employees.