Personnel Security Clearances: Progress Has Been Made to Improve Timeliness but Continued Oversight Is Needed to Sustain Momentum
Highlights
In light of long-standing problems with delays and backlogs, Congress mandated personnel security clearance reforms through the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). These included requirements related to timeliness, reciprocity, and the creation of a single database to house personnel security clearance information. In 2008, Executive Order 13467 established the Performance Accountability Council. GAO was asked to review the extent to which executive branch agencies (1) investigate and adjudicate personnel security clearance applications in a timely manner, (2) honor previously granted security clearances, and (3) share personnel security clearance information in a single, integrated database. GAO reviewed and analyzed Performance Accountability Council timeliness data for fiscal year 2009 and the first three quarters of fiscal year 2010. GAO also examined key clearance reform documents and conducted interviews with executive branch agencies, including members of the Intelligence Community, to discuss the three stated objectives.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Director for Management | To improve the overall personnel security reform efforts across the federal government, the Deputy Director of Management, Office of Management and Budget, in the capacity as Chair of the Performance Accountability Council, should collaborate with the agencies that are not meeting timeliness objectives to (1) identify challenges to timeliness; (2) develop mitigation strategies to enable each agency to comply with the IRTPA timeliness objectives; (3) set timelines for accomplishing the required actions; (4) monitor agency progress; and (5) report on these plans and progress in the annual reports to Congress. |
The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have not yet implemented this recommendation.
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| Deputy Director for Management | To improve the overall personnel security reform efforts across the federal government, the Deputy Director of Management, Office of Management and Budget, in the capacity as Chair of the Performance Accountability Council, should develop comprehensive metrics to track reciprocity and then report the findings from the expanded tracking to Congress. |
This recommendation is superseded by a recommendation made in a subsequent GAO report.
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