OPM set to absorb Defense security clearance agency

The Office of Personnel Management will absorb the Pentagon's background investigation agency and substantially increase the size of the federal security clearance workforce, officials announced Monday.

The Defense Security Service will shift from the Defense Department to OPM on about Feb. 20. The move will involve the transfer of approximately 1,850 positions-including field investigators, supervisors and support staff. The shift will significantly increase the size of OPM, which currently has about 3,000 employees. The Defense Department will also transfer 20 DSS field offices.

"We recognize the importance of the work they do for national security," said Steve Benowitz, OPM's associate director for human resources products and services. "We look forward to having them be a part of 'Team OPM.' "

The union was originally planned for last year, and OPM Director Kay Coles James said in February 2003 that the merger was "the next logical step."

The decision was put on hold, however, when OPM discovered that the DSS clearance process was substantially different from the OPM approach. In May 2004, Benowitz said "DSS business practices were not up to the standard we hoped they were."

That criticism prompted an angry response from DSS investigators, who argued that OPM was the weak link in the merger.

The concerns have apparently been satisfied, and OPM officials said Monday that only mundane housekeeping needed to be completed before the merger takes place.

"This transfer will consolidate the vast majority" of federal government background checks, Benowitz said. "Ninety to 95 percent will now be completed by OPM."

Federal personnel officials are also planning to increase the size of the contractor pool working on background investigations. OPM currently has about 170 federal workers who coordinate with six contract firms that have a total of 3,000 employees. Benowitz said the agency wants to expand the total background investigation workforce-including contractors and federal employees-to 7,500 by the end of fiscal 2006.

Additionally, personnel officials said the security clearance process will become more efficient after DSS is transferred to OPM. Benowitz said "the end result will be improved quality and timeliness." He declined to explain why OPM would be able to improve the speed of the background investigations while the Defense Department could not.

Heather Anderson, acting director of DSS, rejected the idea that OPM will perform the investigations more efficiently. She said improvements will take place once more contractors are hired.

"You will see the improvement based on the capacity improvement," Anderson said.