DOD Personnel Clearances
Some Progress Has Been Made but Hurdles Remain to Overcome the Challenges That Led to GAO's High-Risk Designation Gao ID: GAO-05-842T June 28, 2005Threats to national security--such as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and high-profile espionage cases--underscore the need for timely, high-quality determinations of who is eligible for a personnel security clearance which allows an individual to access classified information. The Department of Defense (DOD) needs an effective and efficient clearance program because it is responsible for about 2 million active clearances and provides clearances to more than 20 other executive agencies as well as the legislative branch. Despite these imperatives, DOD has for more than a decade experienced delays in completing hundreds of thousands of clearance requests and impediments to accurately estimating and eliminating its clearance backlog. In January 2005, GAO designated DOD's personnel security clearance program as a high-risk area. In February 2005, DOD transferred its personnel security investigative functions and about 1,800 positions to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), after 2 years of negotiation between the agencies. This testimony provides an update on the challenges that led to GAO's high-risk designation. It identifies both the positive steps that have been taken to address previously identified challenges and some of the remaining hurdles. GAO will continue to monitor this area.
While DOD has taken steps to address the problems that led to designating its clearance program as high risk, continuing challenges are found in each of the three stages of DOD's personnel security clearance process. Preinvestigation: To address previously identified problems in projecting clearance workload, DOD is identifying the military and civilian positions that require clearances. Identifying clearance requirements for contractor personnel is still in the planning phase. Another problem is the efficient submission of investigation requests. In the 2 years since DOD and OPM announced the transfer of DOD's investigative functions and personnel to OPM, the two agencies did not ensure the seamless submission of DOD requests to OPM. DOD is developing software to remedy this problem. Investigation: Delays in completing investigations are continuing. For February 2005, OPM--which now supplies an estimated 90 percent of the government's clearance investigations--reported that over 185,000 of its clearance investigations had exceeded timeliness goals. OPM's effort to add investigative staff is a positive step, but adding thousands of staff could result in continued timeliness problems and quality concerns as the staff gain experience. OPM's workload should decrease because of two recent initiatives: (1) eliminating a few of the investigative requirements for some reinvestigations of personnel updating their clearances and (2) requiring the acceptance of clearances and access granted to personnel moving from one agency to another. Adjudication: In the past, DOD had difficulty monitoring who had been adjudicated for clearances and when the clearances needed to be renewed. While the Joint Personnel Adjudication System has combined databases from DOD's 10 adjudicative facilities to enhance monitoring, wider consolidation of government databases may be required. The Director of OPM will need to integrate all federal agencies into a single governmentwide database in order to meet a requirement established in a recent law. As of September 30, 2003, DOD had a backlog of roughly 90,000 adjudications.
GAO-05-842T, DOD Personnel Clearances: Some Progress Has Been Made but Hurdles Remain to Overcome the Challenges That Led to GAO's High-Risk Designation
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Testimony:
Before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the
Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate:
For Release on Delivery Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT Tuesday, June 28,
2005:
DOD Personnel Clearances:
Some Progress Has Been Made but Hurdles Remain to Overcome the
Challenges That Led to GAO's High-Risk Designation:
Statement of Derek B. Stewart, Director, Defense Capabilities and
Management:
GAO-05-842T:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-05-842T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the
District of Columbia, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, U.S. Senate:
Why GAO Did This Study:
Threats to national security--such as the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks and high-profile espionage cases--underscore the need for
timely, high-quality determinations of who is eligible for a personnel
security clearance which allows an individual to access classified
information.
The Department of Defense (DOD) needs an effective and efficient
clearance program because it is responsible for about 2 million active
clearances and provides clearances to more than 20 other executive
agencies as well as the legislative branch. Despite these imperatives,
DOD has for more than a decade experienced delays in completing
hundreds of thousands of clearance requests and impediments to
accurately estimating and eliminating its clearance backlog. In January
2005, GAO designated DOD's personnel security clearance program as a
high-risk area. In February 2005, DOD transferred its personnel
security investigative functions and about 1,800 positions to the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM), after 2 years of negotiation
between the agencies.
This testimony provides an update on the challenges that led to GAO's
high-risk designation. It identifies both the positive steps that have
been taken to address previously identified challenges and some of the
remaining hurdles. GAO will continue to monitor this area.
What GAO Found:
While DOD has taken steps to address the problems that led to
designating its clearance program as high risk, continuing challenges
are found in each of the three stages of DOD's personnel security
clearance process. Figure 1 describes the process.
Figure 1: DOD's Process for Determining Clearance Eligibility:
[See PDF for image]--graphic text:
Preinvestigation stage:
After determining that a position requires the employee to have access
to classified information, the requesting organization submits an
individual's personnel security questionnaire to OPM.
Investigation stage:
OPM or one of its contractors conducts a background investigation and
forwards a report to one of DOD's adjudication facilities.
Adjudication stage:
Based on information in the investigative report, an adjudicator
determines eligibility for access to classified information, and
forwards this determination to the requesting organization.
Source: DOD.
[End of figure]
Preinvestigation: To address previously identified problems in
projecting clearance workload, DOD is identifying the military and
civilian positions that require clearances. Identifying clearance
requirements for contractor personnel is still in the planning phase.
Another problem is the efficient submission of investigation requests.
In the 2 years since DOD and OPM announced the transfer of DOD's
investigative functions and personnel to OPM, the two agencies did not
ensure the seamless submission of DOD requests to OPM. DOD is
developing software to remedy this problem.
Investigation: Delays in completing investigations are continuing. For
February 2005, OPM--which now supplies an estimated 90 percent of the
government's clearance investigations--reported that over 185,000 of
its clearance investigations had exceeded timeliness goals. OPM's
effort to add investigative staff is a positive step, but adding
thousands of staff could result in continued timeliness problems and
quality concerns as the staff gain experience. OPM's workload should
decrease because of two recent initiatives: (1) eliminating a few of
the investigative requirements for some reinvestigations of personnel
updating their clearances and (2) requiring the acceptance of
clearances and access granted to personnel moving from one agency to
another.
Adjudication: In the past, DOD had difficulty monitoring who had been
adjudicated for clearances and when the clearances needed to be
renewed. While the Joint Personnel Adjudication System has combined
databases from DOD's 10 adjudicative facilities to enhance monitoring,
wider consolidation of government databases may be required. The
Director of OPM will need to integrate all federal agencies into a
single governmentwide database in order to meet a requirement
established in a recent law. As of September 30, 2003, DOD had a
backlog of roughly 90,000 adjudications.
What GAO Recommends:
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-842T.
To view the full product, click on the link above. For more
information, contact Derek B. Stewart at (202) 512-5559 or
stewartd@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Chairman Voinovich and Members of the Subcommittee:
I am pleased to be here today to discuss the Department of Defense's
(DOD) personnel security clearance program. As you know, Mr. Chairman,
it is one of the 25 areas GAO has designated as high risk in our recent
report, High-Risk Series: An Update.[Footnote 1] GAO's high-risk list
focuses on those major programs and operations that need urgent
attention and transformation in order to ensure that our national
government functions in the most economical, efficient, and effective
manner possible. Also, some federal programs and operations are
designated high risk because of their greater vulnerabilities to fraud,
waste, abuse, and mismanagement.
Threats to our national security--such as the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks and high-profile espionage cases--underscore the need
for timely, high-quality determinations of who is eligible for a
personnel security clearance that will allow the individual access to
classified information. An increase in the operations and deployments
of military personnel since September 11, 2001, and the sensitive
technology that military personnel, government civilians, and
contractors use are other factors suggesting the need for an effective
and efficient clearance program. Because of its size and the many parts
of the government affected by DOD's personnel security clearance
program, an efficient and effective process is needed. The Office of
the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD(I)) is
responsible for the clearances issued to approximately 2 million
personnel and for coordinating and implementing DOD-wide policies
related to access to classified information. While most of those
personnel are servicemembers and DOD's federal employees and contractor
personnel, OUSD(I) is also responsible for the clearances of
contractors for more than 20 other federal agencies as well as for
staff in the legislative branch of the federal government.[Footnote 2]
Notwithstanding the critical mission of DOD and the size of its
program, our prior reviews for more than a decade have documented
persistent problems with DOD's personnel security clearance program.
(See the reports listed at the end of this statement.) Since fiscal
year 2000, DOD has declared its personnel security clearance
investigations program to be a systemic weakness--a management control
problem that affects more than one DOD component and may jeopardize the
department's operations--under the Federal Managers' Financial
Integrity Act of 1982. In addition, an October 2002 House Committee on
Government Reform report recommended to the Secretary of Defense to
include DOD's clearance adjudication process (use of background
investigative information to determine eligibility for a clearance) as
a material weakness.[Footnote 3] After noting in our May 2004
report[Footnote 4] that DOD had dealt with the impediments to timely
clearances in a piecemeal fashion, we recommended that DOD develop and
implement an integrated, comprehensive management plan to eliminate the
backlog, reduce the delays in conducting investigations and determining
eligibility for security clearances, and overcome the impediments that
could allow such problems to recur. Although DOD partially concurred
with our recommendation, the department had not implemented such a plan
as of May 2005.
The longstanding delays in completing hundreds of thousands of
clearance requests and the impediments that hinder DOD's ability to
accurately estimate and eliminate its clearance backlog led us to
declare the program a high-risk area in January 2005.[Footnote 5]
Specifically, we found delays and impediments in all three stages of
DOD's personnel security clearance process shown in Figure 1. Shortly
after we placed DOD's clearance program on our high-risk list, a major
change in the program occurred. In February 2005, DOD transferred its
personnel security investigative functions and about 1,800
investigative positions to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Now, DOD obtains nearly all of its clearance investigations from
OPM.[Footnote 6] The Deputy Associate Director of OPM's Center for
Investigations Services estimated that OPM is responsible for about 90
percent of the more than 650,000 investigations for security clearances
conducted in fiscal year 2004, in addition to nearly 842,000 public
trust, regulatory, and non-sensitive background
investigations.[Footnote 7]
Figure 1: DOD's Process for Determining Clearance Eligibility:
[See PDF for image]
Preinvestigation stage:
After determining that a position requires the employee to have access
to classified information, the requesting organization submits an
individual's personnel security questionnaire to OPM.
Investigation stage:
OPM or one of its contractors conducts a background investigation and
forwards a report to one of DOD's adjudication facilities.
Adjudication stage:
Based on information in the investigative report, an adjudicator
determines eligibility for access to classified information, and
forwards this determination to the requesting organization.
Source: DOD.
[End of figure]
Today, I would like to provide the Subcommittee with an update on the
challenges that led to our designation of DOD's personnel security
clearance program as a high-risk area. I will discuss both the positive
steps that have been taken to address previously identified concerns
and some of the remaining hurdles. My comments will be organized around
the three stages (preinvestigation, investigation, and adjudication) in
DOD's personnel security clearance process.
My comments are based primarily on our completed work and our
institutional knowledge from our prior reviews of the clearance process
at DOD and other agencies. In addition, we used information from the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004[Footnote 8]
and perspectives and statistical data that DOD and OPM officials
supplied during interviews and in written documents gathered as part of
our routine monitoring of steps that had been taken to improve DOD's
personnel security clearance program. We conducted our work in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards
between February and June 2005.
Summary:
DOD has taken steps to address challenges found in each of the three
stages of its personnel security clearance process, but this progress
cannot be fully evaluated at this time because many of the steps have
not been completed. In the preinvestigation stage, previous uncertainty
in projecting the number and types of clearances made it difficult for
DOD to determine budgets and staffing needs. The military services have
begun identifying which military and civilian positions require
clearances and the level of the clearance needed; however, the
clearance requirements process for contractor personnel is still in the
planning phase. Also, DOD has not been able to make full use of OPM's
electronic system for submitting requests for clearance investigations.
Despite having 2 years between the time when OPM and DOD announced an
agreement to transfer DOD's investigative functions and personnel to
OPM and when this transfer actually occurred, DOD and OPM did not
ensure that software was available for the seamless submission of
requests from DOD's system to OPM's. Converting a DOD request for
investigation into a format that is acceptable to OPM's system and
obtaining missing or corrected data to open the investigation delays
completion of the clearance process. Until these two issues are fully
addressed, DOD will continue to encounter problems determining budgets
and staff and minimizing the delays in completing the clearance
process.
For the investigation stage, OPM reported that more than 185,000 of its
clearance investigations had exceeded timeliness goals during February
2005. In December 2003, DOD and OPM did not have sufficient numbers of
investigative personnel. Combined, they had about 4,200 full-time-
equivalent investigative staff, but an OPM official at that time
estimated that DOD and OPM would need about 8,000 full-time-equivalent
investigative staff to eliminate backlogs and deliver investigations on
time. Since then, OPM has added investigative staff, but adding
thousands of staff could result in continued timeliness problems and
quality concerns as the staff gain experience. However, the
governmentwide investigative workload should decrease because of two
recent developments: (1) the elimination of formerly required
interviews and other data gathering during some reinvestigations for
renewal of top secret clearances and (2) the requirement for government
agencies to accept clearances and access granted to personnel by other
agencies.
For the third step in the clearance process, the adjudication stage,
our reviews documented problems in monitoring overdue reinvestigations
and generating accurate estimates of the backlog that were both
partially due to DOD maintaining separate databases for each of its 10
adjudication facilities. DOD has largely implemented its Joint
Personnel Adjudication System to consolidate the databases and thereby
has addressed some of our adjudication-related concerns. While this is
a positive step, the Director of OPM must now establish and maintain a
single governmentwide database as required by the Intelligence Reform
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. As of September 30, 2003, DOD had
a backlog of roughly 90,000 completed investigations that had not been
adjudicated within prescribed time limits. In addition, even though we
made four recommendations for improving DOD's adjudicative process in
April 2001 and DOD concurred with those recommendations, none has been
fully implemented at this time.
Background:
Since 1997, all federal agencies have been subject to a common set of
personnel security investigative standards and adjudicative guidelines
for determining whether servicemembers, government employees, industry
personnel, and others are eligible to receive a security
clearance.[Footnote 9] Clearances allow personnel to access classified
information categorized into three levels: top secret, secret, and
confidential.[Footnote 10] The expected damage to national defense and
foreign relations that unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be
expected to cause is "exceptionally grave damage" for top secret
information, "serious damage" for secret information, and "damage" for
confidential information. Individuals who need access to classified
information for extended periods of time are required to periodically
renew their clearance (a reinvestigation). The time frames for
reinvestigations are 5 years for top secret clearances, 10 years for
secret clearances, and 15 years for confidential clearances.[Footnote
11]
In addition to requiring different time frames for renewal, the
different levels of clearances require that different types of
background information be gathered and used in making the adjudicative
decision about whether an individual is or is not eligible for a
clearance (see table 1). Much of the information for a secret or
confidential clearance is gathered through electronic files. The
investigation for a top secret clearance requires the information
needed for the secret or confidential clearance as well as additional
data which are gathered through time-consuming tasks, such as
interviews with the subject of the investigation request, references in
the workplace, and neighbors. OPM officials estimated that the time
required to gather information to complete initial investigations for
top secret clearances is twice that needed for reinvestigations for top
secret clearances and 10 times as much as that needed for initial
investigations or reinvestigations for secret or confidential
clearances. DOD estimated that adjudicators' reviews of the longer
investigative reports for top secret clearances also take three times
as long as the reviews of investigative reports for determining
eligibility for secret or confidential clearances. Moreover, if the
clearance required for a position is upgraded from secret to top
secret, the investigation and adjudication would need to be performed
twice as often (every 5 years instead of every 10 years).
Table 1: Information Gathered to Determine Eligibility for a Security
Clearance:
Type of information gathered: 1. Personnel security questionnaire: The
subject's self-reported answers on a paper SF-86 form or an electronic
form;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 2. National agency check: Data from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, military records centers, Department
of the Treasury, etc;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 3. Credit check: Data from credit bureaus
where the subject lived/worked/attended school for at least 6 months;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 4. Local agency checks: Data from law
enforcement agencies where the subject lived/worked/attended school
during past 5 years;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 5. Date and place of birth: Corroboration
of information supplied on the personnel security questionnaire;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: No.
Type of information gathered: 6. Citizenship: For individuals born
outside of the United States, verification of U.S. citizenship directly
from the appropriate registration authority;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: No.
Type of information gathered: 7. Education: Corroboration of most
recent or significant claimed attendance, degree, or diploma;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 8. Employment: Review of employment
records and interviews with workplace references, such as supervisors
and coworkers;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 9. References: Data from interviews with
subject-identified and investigator-developed leads;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 10. National agency check for spouse or
cohabitant: National agency check without fingerprint;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 11. Former spouse: Data from interview(s)
conducted with spouse(s) divorced within the last 10 years;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 12. Neighborhoods: Interviews with
neighbors and verification of residence through records check;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 13. Public records: Verification of
issues, such as bankruptcy, divorce, and criminal and civil court
cases;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Type of information gathered: 14. Subject interview: Collection of
relevant data, resolution of significant inconsistencies, or both;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Confidential or secret:
Initial investigation or reinvestigation: No;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret: Initial
investigation: Yes;
Type of security clearance and investigation: Top secret:
Reinvestigation: Yes.
Source: DOD.
[End of table]
Progress and Continuing Challenges Found at Each Stage of DOD's
Personnel Security Clearance Process:
We found that DOD has taken steps to address challenges found at all
three stages of its personnel security clearance process, but many of
the steps have not yet resulted in implementations that fully address
the challenges. In the preinvestigation stage, DOD has begun decreasing
the uncertainty in its projections of how many and what levels of
clearances are required by identifying the clearances needed for
military and civilian positions and developing software that will
result in electronic submissions of clearance investigation requests to
OPM. Regarding the second stage of the clearance process, OPM has been
hiring investigative staff to address past personnel shortages and the
resulting delays from having too few staff for the investigative
workload. Adding thousands of staff could, however, result in continued
timeliness problems as well as quality concerns until the staff gain
experience. Regarding the adjudication stage, DOD's Joint Personnel
Adjudication System consolidated the databases for 10 DOD adjudication
facilities to enhance monitoring of adjudicative decisions and time
frames for renewing clearances, but a new law requires a governmentwide
clearance database.
Preinvestigation Steps Being Taken to Help DOD Identify Requirements
for Clearances and Address Submission of Requests for Clearance
Investigations:
At this time, DOD is uncertain about the number and level of clearances
that it requires and has experienced problems submitting investigation
requests, but the department has begun addressing these problems. DOD's
inability to accurately project such clearance requirements makes it
difficult to determine budgets and staffing needs. DOD is addressing
this problem by identifying the clearance needs for military and
civilian positions, but no military service had completed this task as
of May 2005. Similarly, in response to our May 2004 recommendation to
improve the projection of clearance requirements for industry
personnel, DOD indicated that it is developing a plan and computer
software to have the government's contracting officers authorize the
number of industry personnel investigations required to perform the
classified work on a given contract and link the clearance
investigations to the contract number.
Despite having 2 years between the time when OPM and DOD announced an
agreement for the transfer of DOD's investigative functions and
personnel to OPM and when the transfer actually occurred, DOD cannot
make full use of OPM's Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations
Processing (eQIP), the system used to submit materials required to
start a background investigation. To overcome this challenge to the
prompt and efficient submission of investigation requests, DOD is
developing software that will convert the department's submissions into
the eQIP format. Also, OPM told us that about 11 percent of the
February 2005 clearance investigation requests submitted outside of
eQIP were returned to the requesting offices when missing or discrepant
information could not be obtained telephonically. Converting a DOD
request for investigation into a format that is compatible with OPM's
eQIP and obtaining missing or corrected data to open an investigation
delays the completion of the clearance process. OPM does not monitor
how many days elapse between initial submissions and resubmissions of
corrected material and, therefore, does not include that time in its
calculations of the average time required to complete an investigation.
Until DOD implements the software currently being developed and fully
determines its clearance requirements, the department will continue to
encounter problems determining budgets and staff and minimizing the
delays in completing the clearance process.
Delays Exist in Completing Investigations, but Recent Steps May
Decrease the Delays:
DOD and the rest of the government serviced by OPM are not receiving
completed investigations promptly, but recent initiatives may decrease
these delays. For February 2005, OPM told us that it had more than
185,000 investigations governmentwide that had taken longer than its
goals for closing cases: 120 days for initial investigations and 180
days for reinvestigations. The current goals for completing a case
allow more time than did the DOD goals reported in our earlier work
and, therefore, comparison of the investigation backlog size that OPM
reported in February 2005 to the backlog size cited in our prior
reviews would not provide any meaningful information.[Footnote 12] The
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requires that
not later than December 17, 2006, and ending December 17, 2009, each
authorized adjudicative agency shall make a determination on at least
80 percent of all applicants for personnel security clearances within
an average of 120 days--90 days to complete the investigation and 30
days to complete the adjudication--of receiving the security clearance
application.[Footnote 13] Also, not later than February 15, 2006, and
annually thereafter through 2011, a report on the progress made during
the preceding year toward meeting these goals is to be supplied to
appropriate congressional committees.[Footnote 14] Table 2 shows that,
across the government, standard service for both initial investigations
and reinvestigations for top secret clearances resulted in more than 1
year elapsing, on average, between submitting the investigation
requests and closing the investigations. OPM does, however, permit
agencies to request priority (expedited) processing on a limited number
of investigations, and those investigations took less time to close.
Table 2 also shows a difference in the time required to close initial
investigations and reinvestigations for top secret clearances.
Table 2: February 2005 Governmentwide Findings on the Types of
Investigations for Different Clearances, Average Number of Days Used to
Close an Investigation, and the Number of Investigations Exceeding
Goals for Closing:
Type of investigation: Initial investigations and reinvestigations for
secret/confidential clearances;
Type of processing: Priority;
Average number of days to close: 87;
Number exceeding the goals for closing: 555.
Type of investigation: Initial investigations and reinvestigations for
secret/confidential clearances;
Type of processing: Standard;
Average number of days to close: 160;
Number exceeding the goals for closing: 99,543.
Type of investigation: Initial investigations for top secret
clearances;
Type of processing: Priority;
Average number of days to close: 115;
Number exceeding the goals for closing: 1,938.
Type of investigation: Initial investigations for top secret
clearances;
Type of processing: Standard;
Average number of days to close: 370;
Number exceeding the goals for closing: 47,444.
Type of investigation: Reinvestigations for top secret clearances;
Type of processing: Standard;
Average number of days to close: 498;
Number exceeding the goals for closing: 36,320.
Total;
Number exceeding the goals for closing: 185,800.
Source: OPM.
[End of table]
In February and May 2004, we reported that different risks are
associated with delays in completing initial investigations and
reinvestigations.[Footnote 15] Delays in completing initial personnel
security clearances can have negative impacts on the costs of
performing classified work within or for the U.S. government. For
example, delays in clearing industry personnel can affect the cost,
timeliness, and quality of contractor performance on defense contracts.
Conversely, delays in completing reinvestigations may lead to a
heightened risk of national security breaches because the longer
individuals hold clearances, the more likely they are to be working
with critical information systems.
Our prior review noted that delays in completing personnel security
clearance investigations for DOD and other agencies have resulted, in
part, from a shortage of investigative staff. In February 2004, we
noted that the Deputy Associate Director of OPM's Center for
Investigations Services estimated that OPM and DOD would need a total
of roughly 8,000 full-time-equivalent investigative personnel[Footnote
16] to eliminate backlogs and deliver investigations in a timely
fashion to their customers.[Footnote 17] To reach its goal of 8,000,
OPM must add and retain approximately 3,800 full-time equivalent
investigative staff, and retain all of the estimated 4,200 full-time-
equivalent staff that OPM and DOD had combined in December 2003. In our
February 2004 report, we noted that OPM's primary contractor was adding
about 100 and losing about 70 investigators per month. If the high rate
of turnover has continued, the ability to grow investigative capacity
could be difficult. In addition, OPM could be left with a large number
of investigative staff with limited experience.
OPM's Deputy Associate Director noted that the inexperience among
investigative staff results in investigations not being completed as
quickly as they might have been if the investigators were more
experienced. The OPM official also noted that the quality of the
investigations is not where she would like to see it. As we noted in
our September 2004 testimony before this subcommittee,[Footnote 18] OPM
had continued to use its investigations contractor to conduct personnel
security clearance investigations on its own employees even though we
raised an internal control concern about this practice during our 1996
review.[Footnote 19] OPM officials indicated that they plan to use the
government employees that were transferred from DOD to address this
concern.
In addition to adding staff, two other initiatives should decrease
delays in completing clearance investigations. A new DOD initiative--
the phased periodic reinvestigation (phased PR)--that we discussed in
our May 2004 report can make more staff available and thereby decrease
the workload associated with some reinvestigations for top secret
clearances.[Footnote 20] The phased approach to periodic
reinvestigations involves conducting a reinvestigation in two phases; a
more extensive reinvestigation would be conducted only if potential
security issues were identified in the initial phase. Specifically,
investigative staff would verify residency records and conduct
interviews of listed references, references developed during the
investigation, and individuals residing in the neighborhood only if
potential security issues were identified in other parts of the
standard reinvestigation process. The Defense Personnel Security
Research Center showed that at least 20 percent of the normal
investigative effort could be saved with almost no loss in identifying
critical issues needed for adjudication. In December 2004, the
President approved the use of the phased PR for personnel needing to
renew their top secret clearances.
Another source of investigative, as well as adjudicative, workload
reduction may result from the recent reciprocity requirements contained
in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of
2004.[Footnote 21] Our May 2004 report noted that the lack of
reciprocity (the acceptance of clearance and access granted by another
department, agency, or military service) was cited as an obstacle that
can cause contractor delays in filling positions and starting work on
government contracts. Under the new law, all security clearance
background investigations and determinations completed by an authorized
investigative agency or authorized adjudicative agency shall be
accepted by all agencies.
Joint Personnel Adjudication System Consolidates DOD Adjudicative Data,
but a New Law Requires Wider Consolidation:
DOD's Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) consolidated 10 DOD
adjudication databases to provide OUSD(I) with better monitoring of
adjudication-related problems, but a new law requires wider
consolidation. Past delays in implementing DOD's JPAS greatly inhibited
OUSD(I)'s ability to monitor overdue reinvestigations and generate
accurate estimates for that portion of the backlog. In addition to
correcting these problems, implementation of much of JPAS has
eliminated the need for DOD's 10 adjudication facilities to maintain
their own databases of adjudicative information. This consolidation may
also assist with a requirement in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004.[Footnote 22] Among other things, the law
requires that not later than December 17, 2005, the Director of OPM
shall, in cooperation with the heads of the certain other government
entities, establish and commence operating and maintaining a single,
integrated, secure database into which appropriate data relevant to the
granting, denial, and revocation of a security clearance or access
pertaining to military, civilian, or government contractor personnel
shall be entered from all authorized investigative and adjudicative
agencies. OPM officials stated that JPAS and OPM's Clearance
Verification System account for over 90 percent of the government's
active security clearances and that the remaining clearances are
primarily housed in classified record systems (e.g., the Central
Intelligence Agency's Scattered Castles) devoted to the intelligence
community.
Additionally, DOD may move closer toward the 9/11 Commission's
recommendation of having a single government agency responsible for
providing and maintaining clearances by co-locating its 10 adjudication
facilities on a single military installation. The recent base
realignment and closure list includes a recommendation to co-locate all
of DOD's adjudication facilities. While co-location--if it occurs--
would not be the same as consolidation, it might provide opportunities
for greater communication within DOD. However, the proposed co-location
at Fort Meade, Maryland, could also result in the loss of trained staff
who might choose not to relocate, such as some of the roughly 400
employees in the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office and the
Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals Personal Security Division in
Columbus, Ohio.
In our February 2004 report,[Footnote 23] we noted that DOD had (1) as
of September 30, 2003, a backlog of roughly 90,000 completed
investigations that had not been adjudicated within prescribed time
limits, (2) no DOD-wide standard for determining how quickly
adjudications should be completed, and (3) inadequate adjudicator
staffing. Also at the time of our report, the DOD Office of Inspector
General was examining whether the Navy adjudicative contracts led to
contractors' staff performing an inherently governmental function--
adjudication. Because of that examination, it was unclear whether the
Army and Air Force adjudication facilities would be able to use similar
contracting to eliminate their backlogs.
Although DOD concurred with our April 2001[Footnote 24] recommendations
for improving its adjudicative process, it has not fully implemented
any of the recommendations as of May 2005. OUSD(I) reported the
following progress for those four recommendations. (Our recommendations
appear in italics, followed by a summary of DOD's response and/or
actions.)
* Establish detailed documentation requirements to support adjudication
decisions. Use of JPAS will require greater documentation on adverse
information and possible factors to mitigate that information, but this
feature of JPAS has not been fully implemented.
* Require that all DOD adjudicators use common explanatory guidance.
DOD has developed this guidance and is awaiting review by the Personnel
Security Working Group of Policy Coordinating Committee for Records
Access and Information Security Policy, an interagency group.
* Establish common adjudicator training requirements and develop
appropriate continuing education opportunities for all DOD
adjudicators. A work plan has been developed to establish an
adjudicator certification process, to be implemented in late 2005 or
early 2006. The plan will include continuing education requirements.
* Establish a common quality assurance program to be implemented by
officials in all DOD adjudication facilities and monitor compliance
through annual reporting. OUSD(I) indicates DOD is developing criteria
and a form to assess the quality of the investigations that DOD is
receiving. Also, in the future, cases are to be randomly selected from
JPAS and reviewed by a team of adjudicators from the various
adjudication facilities.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, this concludes my
prepared statement. I would be happy to answer any questions you may
have at this time. In summary, Mr. Chairman, we will continue to
monitor this area as we do for all of the high-risk programs on our
list. Much remains to be done to bring lasting solutions to this high-
risk area. As we stated in our report, High-Risk Series: An Update,
perseverance by the administration in implementing GAO's recommended
solutions and continued oversight and action by the Congress are both
essential.
[End of section]
Appendix I: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Derek B. Stewart, (202) 512-5559:
Acknowledgments:
Individuals making key contributions to this statement include Alissa
H. Czyz, Jack E. Edwards, Julia C. Matta, and Mark A. Pross.
[End of section]
Related GAO Products:
[End of section]
Defense Management: Key Elements Needed to Successfully Transform DOD
Business Operations.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-629T]
Washington, D.C.: April 28, 2005.
Maritime Security: New Structures Have Improved Information Sharing,
but Security Clearance Processing Requires Further Attention.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-394]
Washington, D.C.: April 15, 2005.
DOD's High-Risk Areas: Successful Business Transformation Requires
Sound Strategic Planning and Sustained Leadership.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-520T]
Washington, D.C.: April 13, 2005.
High-Risk Series: An Update.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-207]
Washington, D.C.: January 2005.
Intelligence Reform: Human Capital Considerations Critical to 9/11
Commission's Proposed Reforms.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-1084T]
Washington, D.C.: September 14, 2004.
DOD Personnel Clearances: Additional Steps Can Be Taken to Reduce
Backlogs and Delays in Determining Security Clearance Eligibility for
Industry Personnel.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-632]
Washington, D.C.: May 26, 2004.
DOD Personnel Clearances: Preliminary Observations Related to Backlogs
and Delays in Determining Security Clearance Eligibility for Industry
Personnel.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-202T]
Washington, D.C.: May 6, 2004.
Security Clearances: FBI Has Enhanced Its Process for State and Local
Law Enforcement Officials.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-596]
Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2004.
Industrial Security: DOD Cannot Provide Adequate Assurances That Its
Oversight Ensures the Protection of Classified Information.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-332]
Washington, D.C.: March 3, 2004.
DOD Personnel Clearances: DOD Needs to Overcome Impediments to
Eliminating Backlog and Determining Its Size.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-344]
Washington, D.C.: February 9, 2004.
Aviation Security: Federal Air Marshal Service Is Addressing Challenges
of Its Expanded Mission and Workforce but Additional Actions Needed.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-242]
Washington, D.C.: November 19, 2003.
DOD Personnel: More Consistency Needed in Determining Eligibility for
Top Secret Security Clearances.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-01-465]
Washington, D.C.: April 18, 2001.
DOD Personnel: More Accurate Estimate of Overdue Security Clearance
Reinvestigation Is Needed.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/T-NSIAD-00-246]
Washington, D.C.: September 20, 2000.
DOD Personnel: More Actions Needed to Address Backlog of Security
Clearance Reinvestigations.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-00-215]
Washington, D.C.: August 24, 2000.
DOD Personnel: Weaknesses in Security Investigation Program Are Being
Addressed.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/T-NSIAD-00-148]
Washington, D.C.: April 6, 2000.
DOD Personnel: Inadequate Personnel Security Investigations Pose
National Security Risks.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/T-NSIAD-00-65]
Washington, D.C.: February 16, 2000.
DOD Personnel: Inadequate Personnel Security Investigations Pose
National Security Risks.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-00-12]
Washington, D.C.: October 27, 1999.
Background Investigations: Program Deficiencies May Lead DEA to
Relinquish Its Authority to OPM.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/GGD-99-173]
Washington, D.C.: September 7, 1999.
Military Recruiting: New Initiatives Could Improve Criminal History
Screening.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-99-53]
Washington, D.C.: February 23, 1999.
Executive Office of the President: Procedures for Acquiring Access to
and Safeguarding Intelligence Information.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-98-245]
Washington, D.C.: September 30, 1998.
Privatization of OPM's Investigations Service.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/GGD-96-97R]
Washington, D.C.: August 22, 1996.
Cost Analysis: Privatizing OPM Investigations.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/GGD-96-121R]
Washington, D.C.: July 5, 1996.
Personnel Security: Pass and Security Clearance Data for the Executive
Office of the President.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-96-20]
Washington, D.C.: October 19, 1995.
Privatizing OPM Investigations: Perspectives on OPM's Role in
Background Investigations.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/T-GGD-95-185]
Washington, D.C.: June 14, 1995.
Background Investigations: Impediments to Consolidating Investigations
and Adjudicative Functions.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-95-101]
Washington, D.C.: March 24, 1995.
Security Clearances: Consideration of Sexual Orientation in the
Clearance Process.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-95-21]
Washington, D.C.: March 24, 1995.
Personnel Security Investigations.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-94-135R]
Washington, D.C.: March 4, 1994.
Nuclear Security: DOE's Progress on Reducing Its Security Clearance
Work Load.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/RCED-93-183]
Washington, D.C.: August 12, 1993.
Personnel Security: Efforts by DOD and DOE to Eliminate Duplicative
Background Investigations.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/RCED-93-23]
Washington, D.C.: May 10, 1993.
Security Clearances: Due Process for Denials and Revocations by
Defense, Energy, and State.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-92-99]
Washington, D.C.: May 6, 1992.
DOD Special Access Programs: Administrative Due Process Not Provided
When Access Is Denied or Revoked.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-93-162]
Washington, D.C.: May 5, 1993.
Administrative Due Process: Denials and Revocations of Security
Clearances and Access to Special Programs.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/T-NSIAD-93-14]
Washington, D.C.: May 5, 1993.
Due Process: Procedures for Unfavorable Suitability and Security
Clearance Actions.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/NSIAD-90-97FS]
Washington, D.C.: April 23, 1990.
(350722):
FOOTNOTES
[1] GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-05-207 (Washington, D.C.:
January 2005).
[2] A list of agencies and a discussion of the executive order
authorizing DOD to enter into agreements with these agencies can be
found in footnote 9 in GAO, DOD Personnel Clearances: Additional Steps
Can Be Taken to Reduce Backlogs and Delays in Determining Security
Clearance Eligibility for Industry Personnel, GAO-04-632 (Washington,
D.C.: May 26, 2004).
[3] Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives,
Defense Security Service: The Personnel Security Investigations [PSI]
Backlog Poses a Threat to National Security, H.R. Rep. No. 107-767, at
2 (2002).
[4] GAO-04-632.
[5] GAO-05-207.
[6] Currently the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence
Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office each have a 1-year waiver
that allows them to contract for their own personnel security clearance
investigations. OUSD(I) officials said they do not anticipate that the
waivers will be granted after the current waivers expire.
[7] The Deputy Associate Director of OPM's Center for Investigations
Services noted that the following departments/agencies have statutory
or delegated authority to conduct background investigations: Central
Intelligence Agency; Department of State; Department of the Treasury;
Internal Revenue Service; Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Federal
Bureau of Investigation; National Security Agency; U.S. Agency for
International Development; Department of Homeland Security; Bureau of
Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Secret Service; Small Business
Administration; Broadcasting Board of Governors; Department of Justice-
-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Postal
Service; Tennessee Valley Authority; National Reconnaissance Office;
and Peace Corps. Even though these agencies have authority to conduct
their own investigations, some of them request OPM to conduct all or
part of their investigations.
[8] Pub. L. No. 108-458 (Dec. 17, 2004).
[9] The White House, "Implementation of Executive Order 12968,"
Memorandum (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 24, 1997). This memorandum approves
the adjudication guidelines, temporary eligibility standards, and
investigative standards required by Executive Order 12968, Access to
Classified Information (Aug. 2, 1995).
[10] Classified Designations, 5 C.F.R. § 1312.4 (2005).
[11] Adjudicative Guidelines for Determining Eligibility for Access to
Classified Information, 32 C.F.R. Part 147, Subpart B, Attach. A and
Attach. C (2004).
[12] For example, DOD's performance goals were to have 75 percent of
its in-house investigations completed in the following time frames: 120
days for a periodic reinvestigation for a top secret clearance, 90 days
for an initial top secret clearance, and 75 days for either a secret or
confidential clearance being issued initially. Therefore, if these DOD
goals were applied to the current OPM inventory of investigations, the
size of the backlog would be higher.
[13] Pub. L. No. 108-458, § 3001(g) (Dec. 17, 2004). The act also notes
that the time frame for completing clearances will reduce further once
5 years have elapsed from the enactment. At that time, the act notes
that to the extent practical, each authorized adjudicative agency shall
make a determination on at least 90 percent of all applications for a
personnel security clearance within an average of 60 days--40 days to
complete the investigation and 20 days to complete the adjudication.
[14] Pub. L. No. 108-458, § 3001(h) (Dec. 17, 2004).
[15] GAO-04-344 and GAO-04-632.
[16] In our February 2004 report, we noted that OPM's estimate includes
workers who may be (1) investigators or investigative technicians, (2)
federal or contracted staff, and (3) full-or part-time employees.
[17] GAO, DOD Personnel Clearances: DOD Needs to Overcome Impediments
to Eliminating Backlog and Determining Its Size, GAO-04-344
(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 9, 2004).
[18] GAO, Intelligence Reform: Human Capital Considerations Critical to
9/11 Commission's Proposed Reforms, GAO-04-1084T (Washington, D.C.:
Sept. 14, 2004).
[19] GAO, Privatization of OPM's Investigations Service, GAO/GGD-96-97R
(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 22, 1996).
[20] GAO-04-632.
[21] Pub. L. No. 108-458, § 3001(d) (Dec. 17, 2004).
[22] Pub. L. No. 108-458, § 3001(e) (Dec. 17, 2004).
[23] GAO-04-344.
[24] GAO, DOD Personnel: More Consistency Needed in Determining
Eligibility for Top Secret Security Clearances, GAO-01-465 (Washington,
D.C.: Apr. 18, 2001).
