The Bush administration, struggling to eliminate a backlog of security clearance investigations, moved yesterday to consolidate responsibility for most of the government's background checks at the Office of Personnel Management.
About 1,850 investigators and employees of the Defense Department will transfer to OPM on Feb. 20, officials announced. The shift of the Defense Security Service employees will put OPM in charge of more than 90 percent of the background investigations for security clearances and for sensitive jobs in the government.
Demand for clearances and reinvestigations of federal employees, military personnel and contractors has jumped sharply since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The surge exacerbated already long waits for certain types of clearances and prompted congressional hearings aimed at getting a handle on the size of the backlog.
Yesterday, officials said that 350,000 cases are in various stages of investigation by the Defense Security Service and that about 340,000 cases are pending at OPM at any one time. On average, it takes 375 days for a full field investigation and adjudication, according to the House Government Reform Committee.
Stephen C. Benowitz, an associate director at OPM, predicted yesterday that the merger of the Defense and OPM staffs will result in "improved quality and timeliness of the investigations." He said OPM would strive to turn around background checks for top-secret clearances in 60 to 90 days.
The consolidation likely will have implications for the future of OPM. The independent agency has about 3,000 employees and, since the mid-1990s, has relied on a contract workforce to conduct background checks. When it absorbs the Defense employees, OPM will grow by about 60 percent and will deal more directly with issues involving background checks.
OPM has about 130 employees who set policy and oversee background investigations conducted by about 3,000 contract workers. Benowitz said OPM is increasing its capacity to conduct background checks and reduce the backlog of security clearances through contracts with six companies.
DSS investigators work out of 20 field offices across the nation and will remain at their locations after the February transfer to OPM. Benowitz, alluding to heightened concerns about homeland and national security, said there are no plans to convert the Defense investigators into contract workers. The law authorizing the transfer, however, permits OPM to evaluate the jobs after a year to determine whether they should be put up for bid in the private sector.
The Pentagon and OPM have been negotiating the consolidation for about two years. Congress gave a green light to the merger in the fiscal 2004 defense authorization act.
The two agencies have conducted training sessions for DSS investigators on how to use OPM's computer systems and have stored information on background investigations in OPM's database since October 2003, Benowitz and Heather Anderson, acting director of DSS, said yesterday.
OPM said the transfer of Defense employees would allow the Pentagon to avoid at least $100 million in costs to upgrade its computer systems.
Kennedy Goes to Bat for Unions
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and OPM Director Kay Coles James to give federal unions an opportunity to review proposed regulations overhauling workplace rules for Defense civilians before they are published in the Federal Register.
The Pentagon recently refused, saying that the unions will have ample opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations during a public comment period and afterward during a "meet and confer" process ordered by Congress.
But Kennedy said that the Pentagon should develop its new National Security Personnel System "in the most transparent way possible" and that nothing in law prevents the department from providing the United DoD Workers Coalition with a copy in advance of publication.
A Defense spokeswoman said officials had received Kennedy's letter and were preparing a response.
Diary Live Today
Krista Lannert, a vice president at First Health, which administers the Mail Handlers Benefit Plan, will take questions and comments at noon today on Federal Diary Live at www.washingtonpost.com about the 2005 Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and new Mail Handler options.
E-mail: barrs@washpost.com
