At a recent Senate hearing, GAO identified several flaws in the government’s issuance of security clearances, which are needed for many federal jobs, and which have been the subject of numerous reform efforts, in part because of the time consumed in deciding on clearances. Problematic areas included policies for deciding which positions need what type of clearance, measuring the quality of background investigations, and inefficient processes for conducting those investigations. For a closer look, go to www.fedweek.com in the free info section of our website.