Communications problems between the Department of Defense and the Office of Personnel Management may be limiting government-wide efforts to improve the personnel security clearance process, the Government Accountability Office has told the Senate federal workforce subcommittee.
It spoke just days after the Defense Security Service announced it would resume processing secret security clearances after placing all investigations on hold in April, citing a lack of funds.
DSS said it was unprepared for a steep increase in requests for security clearance requests this year, but according to GAO, funding constraints are also related to the transfer of DoD’s personnel security investigations functions to OPM, which now handles 90 percent.
The Pentagon has questioned some of the costs being charged by OPM, and asked OMB to mediate.
OMB is responsible for overseeing improvements to the security clearance process under an executive order that expires on July 1 — something GAO said could further hamper improvements.
It said it was concerned that progress resulting from OMB’s high-level management involvement will slow if the executive order is not extended.
Officials from the DoD and OPM inspector general offices have said they are investigating the billing dispute and would report on the results this summer, according to GAO-06-748T.
It said OPM faces performance problems due to the inexperience of its domestic investigative workforce, and it is still in the process of developing a foreign presence to investigate leads overseas.
OPM said at the hearing that it started deploying field agents overseas in August 2005, that it currently has over 40 field agents working at about 30 military installations around the world, and that it would continue to work with the Department of State and DoD to expand OPM’s international presence overseas.
GAO also noted that inaccurate projections of clearance requests and funding constraints have delayed the processing of industry requests.
