It happens after every spy scandal, or inadvertent disclosure of
classified material. Congress passes a new law aimed at fixing the
breach, the bureaucracy implements it, and....nothing really changes.
The latest example of this trend can be found in the pages of Government Executive (h/t: Chief Buddy). One year after Edward Snowden leaked some of our
intelligence "crown jewels" to the media--and his new friends in Beijing
and Moscow--we discover that the process of awarding security
clearances is as screwed up as ever:
"The three main companies performing employee security clearance
checks for the Office of Personnel Management need to improve their case
reviews and training to curb the number of investigations being closed
prematurely, a watchdog said on Thursday.
The largest contractor, USIS, along with CACI and KSG, allow too many
background check files to be submitted without review due to poor
controls and staff training, according to a final audit dated June 4 by OPM’s Assistant Inspector General for Audits Michael Esser.
One contractor completed 15,152 background investigation reviews in
one month, the bulk within minutes of each other on different days, the
IG said. At least 17 investigation reports were not reviewed by the
contractor in charge before being sent to OPM."
You don't need to be a Defense Security Service agent, or an investigator at OPM to see what's going on here. The
three contracting firms, under pressure to reduce backlogs of pending
clearance investigations (for new personnel) and periodic updates (for
those who already have clearances) is simply rubber-stamping background
investigations, with little regard for what was discovered during that
process. When you're "completing" over 15,000 background investigation
reviews in a few minutes, it's clear that contractors are
pencil-whipping a lot of candidates through the system.
If you've ever held a clearance, you know the background investigation
is the most critical part of the vetting process. After the applicant
(or current holder) completes an exhaustive survey, investigators are
supposed to examine all elements of the individual's life for at least
the 10 previous years--and longer, if necessary. All aspects of their
existence are open to query, including personal associations, family
relations, finances, education, travel and military service, just to
name a few. Questions developed by the questionnaire or through the
background investigation are supposed to receive additional scrutiny,
and if deemed serious enough, they may prevent the individual from
getting a clearance, or retaining one that was previously granted.
But that won't happen when you're closing thousands of investigations in
only a few days, with little regard for required reviews and quality
control checks. According to the Washington Post, more than
one million Americans have either a collateral (Secret) Top Secret or
TS/SCI clearance, and with expected retirements in certain areas of the
defense and intelligence communities, as many as 300,000 new applicants
are awaiting initial adjudication, on top of current employees--and
military personnel--who need to have their clearances renewed.
Private contractors were supposed to ease this logjam, adding more
investigators to the process and completing background checks more
rapidly. But some of their work has been shoddy, to say the least.
USIS, the largest of the clearance contractors, is being sued in federal court for fraud,
accused of submitting more than 600,000 faulty or poorly-reviewed
background checks over a four-year period. In case you're wondering,
USIS is the same firm that conducted background investigations
on Snowden and Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis.
Can this mess be fixed? Congress is offering even more legislation, but
we think there's a better approach. First, end the privatization
process. Take clearance investigations away from OPM (which has
demonstrated it can't handle the job) and give it back to DoD. Expand
the Defense Security Service and put them back in charge of clearance
investigations. The process was more efficient when DSS's predecessor
(the Defense Investigative Service) was in charge, and the same level of
professionalism and competence can be regained with the agency in
charge.
It's a rare day when this blog calls for expansion of the federal
bureaucracy. But in this case, we believe, creating cadre of competent
investigators (based on the old DIS model) would eliminate many of the
problems being experienced through privatization scheme. And one thing:
it's time to end the "hurry up and get it done" approach to clearance
adjudication. Not long ago, it took an average of six months to a year
to clear someone for Secret material, and 18-24 months to grant a
TS/SCI clearance. With more Snowdens lurking out there, it's better
to carefully examine someone's background, associations and beliefs
before granting the clearance, instead of simply rubber-stamping a
massive stack of background investigations to meet an arbitrary
deadline.
***
ADDENDUM: If all this isn't bad enough, there is at least one giant
loophole in the clearance investigation process that remains open:
social media. Edward Snowden's on-line profile included frequent rants
about privacy and intrusive government, but investigators never checked
his presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social media forums. The Washington Times
reported earlier this year that investigators are still officially
barred from looking at the social media profile of a clearance holder or
applicant. The Obama Administration has stated it will test social
media (as a part of investigation process) in the near future.
