WASHINGTON — Personnel vetting ensures the trustworthiness of the federal government's workforce and conducts two million background investigations each year.
But the Government Accountability Office in a recent report, found that the Pentagon's systems for background checks for most federal agencies and over 13,000 organizations that work with the government suffered from a lack of proper oversight and organization as well as a failure to keep its systems updated.
"DoD is years late in delivering a fully functional modern IT system intended to support all phases of personnel vetting," said Alissa Czyz, Director of the GAO's Defense Capabilities and Management team.
House Oversight Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Subcommittee members expressed concern.
"A high-quality security clearance process is vital to the security of the United States of America. And as we've seen over the years, when sensitive information gets into wrong hands, the result is far-reaching, compromising both the safety of the country as well as the lives of the citizens," said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).
Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Director David Cattler acknowledged the problems and pledged to fix them.
"As we move forward, we will be guided by what is in the best interests of national security and what is in the best interests of the taxpayer," he said.
The GAO issued 13 recommendations, including creating more oversight to ensure all required tasks and controls are completed.