Problematic background investigation system continues to be reviewed at the Pentagon

The Department of Defense is currently working on a new schedule and budget for the National Background Investigation Service’s IT system.

The Department of Defense’s recent 90-day review of the NBIS system has resulted in a new 18-month roadmap for the software development project, but Milancy Harris, assistant secretary of defense for intelligence and security, said her office and the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment are engaged in a “months-long” process of re-orienting the project.

“We want to make sure we can leverage what we’ve built,” Harris said during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on July 10. “We’re looking closely at what needs to happen in the future to make sure we achieve the full level of performance expected of this system. We’re currently in the process of refining our exact timeline.”

Harris said the new documentation will include an independent cost estimate.

During the hearing, committee chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) called the delays to NBIS a “disaster.” Development of the next background investigation system may be years away, although delivery was originally planned for 2019.

“If we don’t get NBIS right, the entire security clearance reform process collapses,” Warner said.

NBIS is a key component of the White House-led Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative to reform the background check system. The overarching initiative aims to overhaul and modernize the federal government’s background check process, including by requiring most agencies to undergo a unified background check system.

However, the Government Accountability Office has reported significant challenges with NBIS in recent years, including funding shortfalls due to changing DCSA priorities and an unreliable schedule and cost estimate.

System requirements for background investigations

During the Senate hearing last week, lawmakers and witnesses also focused on challenges related to the way the NBIS program office managed the background investigation system requirements.

“The requirements were laid out in Trusted Workforce 2.0,” Harris said. “I think we had a breakdown of how those requirements were translated into technical requirements for development and how we accounted for the delays in that process. And that’s something we want to address immediately through more proactive oversight.”

The Pentagon recently transferred decision-making authority for NBIS procurement from the DCSA Director to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, while the program sponsor is now the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.

Meanwhile, new DCSA Director David Cattler has said getting NBIS back on track is one of his top priorities. DCSA also handles about 95% of the federal government’s background investigation cases.

During the Senate hearing, Cattler acknowledged that while the original NBIS requirements were achievable, DCSA “did not have a clear understanding of the complexity, the technical specifics, or how exactly to address and meet them.”

“We’ve hired some new people,” Cattler said. “We know where our gaps are in the skills we need to hire on the government side. We’re also working with the contractor on what to do there. And we’re also assessing the baseline requirements.”

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