READOUT: HARTZLER LEADS OVERSIGHT OF DOD CLEARANCE PROCESS

Jun 29, 2018
Press Release

Washington, DC – Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, recently convened the fourth official subcommittee event focusing on ongoing efforts to improve how the Department of Defense (DOD) grants security clearances to DOD employees and contractors.
 
“The mechanism to identify loyal and reliable individuals who can be entrusted with classified information in order to build and maintain modern weaponry, establish our nation’s defense strategy, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of those we may confront must be efficient and timely.  Otherwise, efforts to protect our nation are slowed and our security is jeopardized," explained Rep. Hartzler.  “I am deeply committed to ensuring that the clearance process is operated in the most efficient manner.”
 
Individuals requiring a security clearance currently provide extensive background information to the executive branch.  Specialized investigators with the National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management subsequently seek to confirm these details and ascertain other relevant information about the clearance candidate.  This material is then submitted to government analysts who make a clearance determination.  In recent years, the process has resulted in prolonged wait times and a backlog which grew from 190,000 cases in 2014 to more than 700,000 in 2017.
 
Because the Department of Defense accounts for 75% of the security clearance work, Congress recently authorized the Department of Defense to assume responsibility for background investigations for DOD and DOD contractor personnel.  Congress further directed DOD to consider and make use of other initiatives or technologies that may improve the overall efficiency and accuracy of the vetting process.
 
“Efforts to improve the clearance process mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 make it essential that Congress ensures that the Department of Defense is performing as necessary.  For this reason, I convened the four recent briefings for the Armed Services subcommittee which I chair,” 
said Rep. Hartzler.  “I am confident the system is being improved, but the Committee on Armed Services will remain vigilant to ensure additional progress.” 

The recent briefings convened by Chairwoman Hartzler were:
 
June 26 and February 27:  Briefings by senior officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Security Service, and the National Background Investigations Bureau reviewing DOD progress, plans to reduce the backlog, and anticipated efficiencies.
 
April 11:  Briefing from senior officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, and the Defense Security Service about the potential use of automated collection and evaluation of certain information about cleared individuals (such as criminal and public records) as a way to save money and allow earlier detection of potential issues involving already-cleared personnel.
 
February 14:  Briefing from senior officials from the U.S. Government Accountability Office which reviewed a GAO report from December 2017 about the executive branch’s existing security clearance process, the extent to which the security clearance process has been reformed, and efforts from NBIB to reduce the backlog and make other improvements.