Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
February 19, 2008
Pg. D3
Federal Diary
By Stephen Barr
There's still too much paper to pluck from files. There's not enough sharing of information. Yet despite such problems, the government has been picking up speed in processing security clearances.
In a report sent to Congress last week, the Bush administration said most security clearances for federal employees and contractors were completed in an average of 118 days.
That turnaround time beats the 130-day goal set by Congress in the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act. Before the law was passed, it took more than a year on average to conduct an investigation for a top-secret clearance, and investigations for secret and confidential clearances averaged five to six months, according to the report.
The law requires the administration to move even faster on security clearances by the end of 2009.
To achieve the 2009 goal, the government will have to complete security clearances in 74 days, or 44 days faster than it did in the first quarter of fiscal 2008.
"We have to identify opportunities to reform or transform this system, because the way we do it now is basically the same way it has been done for decades," Clay Johnson III, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, said in an interview. He added, "There are better ways, more computer-aided ways, to do a lot of this."
President Bush, in a memo this month, directed key officials to submit a plan by the end of April for improving background checks and security clearances. Johnson is helping lead that effort, joined by James R. Clapper Jr., undersecretary of defense for intelligence; Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence; and Linda M. Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management.
The report to Congress provides a snapshot of some of the issues they face.
Defense contractors remain concerned that their clearances are taking too long and that time spent evaluating a background check and approving a clearance is lengthening. On average, defense contractors are waiting 151 days to receive a clearance. Reinvestigations of defense contractors to update top-secret clearances are taking 267 days, on average.
In part, the longer wait time for defense contractors is because the approval process involves extra steps, and the Pentagon is moving to streamline procedures, Johnson said.
When federal employees and contractors transfer to another part of the government, too many agencies still balk at accepting the security clearances and employment suitability determinations made by another agency. Johnson said agencies should be encouraging reciprocity.
Technology also is a major problem when it comes to checking records for police arrests, criminal convictions, divorces, bankruptcies and debts.
While the FBI delivers 83 percent of the records requested within 30 days, on average, it still has a backlog of 53,000 requests that are more than 30 days old. Only 20 percent of state law-enforcement records can be obtained electronically.
While the State Department, Air Force and Army can provide electronic records to investigators, the Navy and Marines have only recently put their records into databases.
Because of problems in obtaining third-party information, the government has about 42,000 investigations in the pipeline that are more than 180 days old. The delay is down from 137,000 cases in October 2006.
"We've got a lot of work to do, still," Johnson said.
A Guide to Federal Finances
In 2019, the Medicare Part A trust fund, which finances inpatient hospital services for elderly Americans, will not have enough money to pay full benefits.
In 2041, the Social Security trust funds will not have assets to pay full benefits.
These handy warnings are in a first-ever citizen's guide released last week by the Treasury Department and the OMB, with assistance from the Government Accountability Office. In mostly clear language, the eight-page guide explains the government's long-term financial problems.
David M. Walker, the outgoing head of the GAO, has pushed for publication of the citizen's guide, which he said "represents an important step forward in improving public understanding of the federal government's true financial condition and fiscal challenges." For a copy of "The Federal Government's Financial Health," go to http:www.fms.treas.gov/frsummary/index.html .
February 19, 2008
Pg. D3
Federal Diary
By Stephen Barr
There's still too much paper to pluck from files. There's not enough sharing of information. Yet despite such problems, the government has been picking up speed in processing security clearances.
In a report sent to Congress last week, the Bush administration said most security clearances for federal employees and contractors were completed in an average of 118 days.
That turnaround time beats the 130-day goal set by Congress in the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act. Before the law was passed, it took more than a year on average to conduct an investigation for a top-secret clearance, and investigations for secret and confidential clearances averaged five to six months, according to the report.
The law requires the administration to move even faster on security clearances by the end of 2009.
To achieve the 2009 goal, the government will have to complete security clearances in 74 days, or 44 days faster than it did in the first quarter of fiscal 2008.
"We have to identify opportunities to reform or transform this system, because the way we do it now is basically the same way it has been done for decades," Clay Johnson III, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, said in an interview. He added, "There are better ways, more computer-aided ways, to do a lot of this."
President Bush, in a memo this month, directed key officials to submit a plan by the end of April for improving background checks and security clearances. Johnson is helping lead that effort, joined by James R. Clapper Jr., undersecretary of defense for intelligence; Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence; and Linda M. Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management.
The report to Congress provides a snapshot of some of the issues they face.
Defense contractors remain concerned that their clearances are taking too long and that time spent evaluating a background check and approving a clearance is lengthening. On average, defense contractors are waiting 151 days to receive a clearance. Reinvestigations of defense contractors to update top-secret clearances are taking 267 days, on average.
In part, the longer wait time for defense contractors is because the approval process involves extra steps, and the Pentagon is moving to streamline procedures, Johnson said.
When federal employees and contractors transfer to another part of the government, too many agencies still balk at accepting the security clearances and employment suitability determinations made by another agency. Johnson said agencies should be encouraging reciprocity.
Technology also is a major problem when it comes to checking records for police arrests, criminal convictions, divorces, bankruptcies and debts.
While the FBI delivers 83 percent of the records requested within 30 days, on average, it still has a backlog of 53,000 requests that are more than 30 days old. Only 20 percent of state law-enforcement records can be obtained electronically.
While the State Department, Air Force and Army can provide electronic records to investigators, the Navy and Marines have only recently put their records into databases.
Because of problems in obtaining third-party information, the government has about 42,000 investigations in the pipeline that are more than 180 days old. The delay is down from 137,000 cases in October 2006.
"We've got a lot of work to do, still," Johnson said.
A Guide to Federal Finances
In 2019, the Medicare Part A trust fund, which finances inpatient hospital services for elderly Americans, will not have enough money to pay full benefits.
In 2041, the Social Security trust funds will not have assets to pay full benefits.
These handy warnings are in a first-ever citizen's guide released last week by the Treasury Department and the OMB, with assistance from the Government Accountability Office. In mostly clear language, the eight-page guide explains the government's long-term financial problems.
David M. Walker, the outgoing head of the GAO, has pushed for publication of the citizen's guide, which he said "represents an important step forward in improving public understanding of the federal government's true financial condition and fiscal challenges." For a copy of "The Federal Government's Financial Health," go to http:www.fms.treas.gov/frsummary/index.html .