GAO called on OMB’s deputy director for management to direct OMB and OPM to fully measure and report on the period from when application is initially received to when a determination has been communicated to an applicant.
It also recommended establishing an interagency working group to come up with solutions for investigative and adjudicative IT problems — such as the continued submission of paper copies of clearance applications or inefficiencies such as the ongoing distribution of paper investigative reports.
Finally, to improve the completeness of documentation used to determine top-secret clearances and address concerns about reciprocal acceptance between agencies, GAO called on the OMB deputy director to take the following actions:
Require OPM and DoD to submit their procedures for eliminating deficiencies in their documentation and develop and report metrics on completeness and quality measures; update the government strategic plan for improving the clearance process to address weaknesses as well as the timeliness and incompleteness issues identified in GAO’s report, and widely distribute it so that all stakeholders can work toward goals which they can positively impact; and, issue guidance clarifying when, if ever, adjudicators may use incomplete investigative reports as the basis for granting clearance eligibility.