President Obama’s last executive order updated and revised numerous policies affecting determinations regarding suitability for federal employment and security clearances.
“Executive branch vetting policies and procedures shall be sustained by an enhanced risk-management approach that facilitates early detection of issues by an informed, aware, and responsible federal workforce; results in quality decisions enabled by improved vetting capabilities; and advances government-wide capabilities through enterprise approaches,” it says.
The order establishes a Security, Suitability, and Credentialing Performance Accountability Council to oversee the program, and revises previous policies reflect the role of the National Background Investigations Bureau, a semi-independent entity within OPM announced a year ago and which formally became operative last fall to govern policy matters regarding clearances.
Also specified is the DoD’s role in storing and protecting data generated in background investigations, responsibilities being shifted from OPM under the same administration action a year ago.
Further, the government’s practices for conducting background investigations and managing sensitive investigative information “should keep pace with technological advancements, regularly integrating current best practices to better anticipate, detect, and counter malicious activities, and threats posed by external or internal actors who may seek to do harm to the government’s personnel, property, and information,” it says.
