GovernmentExecutive.com

The security clearance process for Defense Department employees is flawed and plagued with delays, but there is no consensus on how to resolve the problems and reduce the backlog of uncleared workers, according to officials and lawmakers who oversee the system.

In a series of interviews with Government Executive, Defense officials and lawmakers said the security clearance process is too slow, especially while the military is engaged overseas.

"The issue is one of national security, more than anything else," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "It is also a matter of inefficiency, but that's not the greatest concern."

Moran has encouraged personnel officials at the Pentagon to ask Congress for more funding to increase the capacity and staffing at security clearance agencies. He has also encouraged federal agencies to enact policies that would allow more reciprocity for security clearances and reduce the need for overlapping checks.

"It's really an authorization issue, and it has to be done by the Government Reform Committee. We're supposed to leave those issues to the authorizing committee," Moran said. "They definitely need more investigators, but they also need a policy change. That's why it is difficult to rectify this in the authorization process."

Moran sat in on a Government Reform Committee hearing in May where federal personnel officials said they were not able to keep up with the flow of security clearances needed for contractors working for the Pentagon.

"The demand for background checks exceeds our capacity," testified Stephen Benowitz, Office of Personnel Management associate director for human resources products and services. "We believe the process is one that needs improvement."

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, also is frustrated at the clearances logjam. He said he intends to hold more hearings later this year on the problem. According to Davis, OPM and the Defense Department are not taking the necessary first steps - identifying the size and scope of the clearance backlog - that would allow Congress to add more resources to the system.

"At a minimum, we would have increased the staffing somewhere," he said. "We're looking at all the options. We need to get the administration committed to solving this because it is costing the taxpayers."

At the May hearing , personnel officials said there were 188,000 Defense contractors waiting for personnel investigators to make a decision on their security clearances. They could not provide a firm number of Pentagon employees whoare awaiting clearances. A spokeswoman for the Defense Security Service, which conducts background checks of Pentagon applicants, said there are 70,000 cases waiting investigation from 2004, and more than 50,000 unfinished cases from 2003. OPM also conducts security clearance investigations for the Defense Department; officials there would not comment on the size of their case backlog.

Carol Clubb, the DSS spokeswoman, said the security clearance caseload is probably not affecting ongoing military action because particularly important cases are moved to the front of the line. Included in that list are presidential support staff, personnel who deal with nuclear weapons, psychological operations personnel, and officials who work with NATO.

"Some cases we have always worked as a priority, because they are vital to national security," she said. Clubb acknowledged, however, that there are more unfinished security clearance cases than Pentagon leadership would like.

"We are definitely not meeting the goals that we have established," she said.

According to Davis and Moran, personnel officials will have difficulty getting any closer to those goals unless they conduct an honest accounting of the problem.

COMMENTS

• Be careful about all the good things you read about USIS on this site. The problem is not about poor quality investigators. The problem is poor training along with a drive for numbers. Combined the results have been poor quality. The solutions to the problems is to engage in practices not approved by OPM. Investigators who are aware of the problems and have difficulty with the ethical situation are viewed as poor performers and subsequently terminated without redress of greivances. Upper management is poor. Investigator compensation is not spread across all pay bands as indicated in a prior message. Field investigations is a very stressful position. District managers are out of touch with the field. Regardless of talent the only road to promotion is numbers. Investigators are charged with protecting their "butts" because team leaders and district managers are too busy trying to cover their own butts. There is high turn-over in the ranks of team leaders and district managers. Field investigators are treated as the lowest echelon within USIS. There is evidently poor OPM oversight and the Congressional Oversight Committee is too busy playing politics to care. Investigators are taught just how to get by, not to perform investigations that are worthy of national security issues. GovExec.com reader Posted August 2, 2008 11:30 AM
• I know this topic wasn't originally about USIS, but I have a question as an applicant. I am ETSing from the Army former 97B, shortly and applied to USIS not long ago, how long does their hiring process take? I have a TS/SCI, will they re-do my clearance? Also, what other companies are hiring investigators, I've checked for jobs with MSM, Kroll, CSC, SA-TECH, CACI, Omniplex AND USAJOBS.OPM.Gov!!! No one's hiring except USIS, are there really any other choices out there? Bridget Posted July 22, 2008 5:18 PM
• In the 1980 I remember Defense Investigative Service (formerly DSS), they did a great job and supported or assisted several other agencies, like the US Army CID when needed. They were well respected and that was one of the reasons that several retired agents signed up for the new OPM FISD. But, as errors are made, it turns out that OPM FISD and USIS entered the business and destroyed it for greed and power, and screwed up something that was working good. I read all the previous comments and spoke to several individuals, and OPM FISD needs to be investigated by the DOJ or the USOGI. GAO found out what was going on but no one seems to want to do anything. Several good people were suspended for no reason and never given due process and never will get due process. It is time to close down OPM FISD and go back to DIS. Those that were wrongfully accused need to receive closure and the issue should be corrected by the OPM General Counsel now. The people in OPM FISD need to be replaced with experienced individuals that know the business and can get the job done. All other Agencies that will not permit OPM to conduct their backgrounds, know what to do and get it done. Why is OPM FISD and USIS still in business? David Posted January 23, 2008 12:37 PM