More Problems Ahead on Security Clearances Most industry executives see no improvement in the government’s handling of security clearances, and about one-third of those responding to a survey said clearance problems are getting worse. Several contractor organizations cooperated with Federal Computer Week in the Web-based survey that drew 665 responses. Thirty-one percent of respondents said the clearance process has gotten worse in the past year; 24% said it had not gotten better. The findings come as an estimated 200,000 new requests for criminal background checks are about to be dropped into the system. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 requires FBI checks on all contractor personnel who have access to federal buildings. Agencies are supposed to start issuing new smart ID cards to those people by Oct. 27. Kathy Dillaman, who runs the governmentwide security clearance program at the Office of Personnel Management, told Government Executive magazine the new requirements would add about 200,000 cases to a system that already has a backlog of several hundred thousand pending applications. In addition, the Defense Security Service has said it may again run out of money to process contractors’ requests for clearances at the end of this month unless Congress provides new funding. DSS stopped processing those applications in April but reallocated $28 million and resumed accepting applications for all but Top Secret clearances in May. Defense Department officials said the money would last until the end of June. DOD has asked Congress for permission to reprogram an additional $90 million to resume processing all industry applications through the end of the fiscal year in September. (SAA, 6/2) Higher-level DOD officials told Congress they were blindsided by the decision to stop processing clearance applications. The department has since replaced the acting director of DSS. In the industry survey, 52% of respondents said they are paying a salary premium or providing additional benefits to attract, hire and retain cleared personnel. Sixty percent of those said the premium amount is increasing. “This survey documents problems with the clearance process extending well beyond the temporary moratorium imposed by the Defense Security Service in April,” said Alan Chvotkin, senior vice president of the Professional Services Council. “It proves the need for systematic changes.” One in four contractors said they would be willing to pay a fee to get clearances faster. At a May 17 hearing before the House Government Reform Committee, Clay Johnson, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said DOD had underestimated the number of clearances it would need this year by more than 50%, and had quickly exhausted its budget. DOD pays OPM to handle background investigations. A coalition of industry groups issued a white paper calling for “one application, one adjudication and one clearance.” It said, “The clearance process as a whole is irrevocably broken.”