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Former DHS CSO Marshall: Moving Background Checks to DoD ‘Makes Perfect Sense'
[Homeland Security Today] Former Department of Homeland Security Chief Security Officer Greg Marshall says that "from an operational efficiency standpoint, it makes perfect sense" to fold the National Background Investigation Bureau and the Defense Security Service into the new Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) created by executive order last week.President Trump signed the executive order solidifying the expected shift in government-wide background investigation duties from the Office of Personnel Management to the Defense Department. The NBIB will be able to perform background investigations on behalf of DoD during a transition period running through Sept. 30, though the date for DoD to become the "primary entity for conducting effective, efficient, and secure background investigations" for sensitive positions is June 24. By the latter date, DoD is expected to have worked out what OPM’s "appropriate support functions" will be. Personnel are expected to be moved from NBIB to DCSA. "This executive order reflects the administration’s commitment to reform the personnel vetting enterprise to ensure a trusted federal workforce and achieve an efficient, effective, and secure operation that meets all government-wide needs for background investigations," the Defense Department said in a statement Thursday, adding that "efforts to undertake the transfer of OPM’s background investigation function and associated personnel, resources, and facilities to DOD will begin immediately." Marshall told HSToday he believes that giving DCSA responsibility for the government-wide security clearance processes "will eliminate redundant personnel security processes across the entirety of government." "I believe this decision to merge vetting, adjudication, continuous evaluation and counterintelligence programs under one umbrella will reduce investigative backlogs ‐ a longstanding problem ‐ and likely result in significant cost savings," he added. Posted by: Besoeker 2019-05-03 |
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