Administration Cites Progress on Security Clearances The Bush administration expressed confidence that it can meet a congressional mandate to process most security clearance applications within 60 days by the end of this year. In a report to the president, an interagency team said 90% of clearances were finished in an average of 82 days by September 2008, down from 265 days in 2005. The Government Accountability Office agreed that “significant progress” has been made, but cautioned that more needs to be done to meet the congressional goal of processing 90% within 60 days. The interagency team is relying primarily on technological solutions to speed the clearance process. In its December report, the team said it will begin using automated record checks of government and commercial databases to speed investigations, and to flag cases that need special attention. However, many of the improvements are a year or more away from full implementation. The interagency group, with approval from defense and intelligence agencies, has issued new investigative guidelines splitting cases into three tiers—low, moderate or high—according to the level of risk associated with the job. The group said that will simplify investigations and encourage reciprocity between agencies. “These plans, in conjunction with improvements made to date, provide the confidence to project that we will meet the December 2009 goal of making initial hiring and clearing determinations in an average 60 days or less,” the interagency team wrote in its December report to President Bush. Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, heads the interagency group established by Bush’s June 30 executive order. The president called for “end-to-end automation” of the process of investigation applicants and granting clearances. In its December report to Congress, GAO acknowledged the progress, but said many Defense Department clearances “continue to experience delays.” The investigators found that proper documentation was lacking in the vast majority of Top Secret investigative reports.