continuous evaluation

In today’s Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management wants to lift the current time limitations for seasonal appointments.

In anticipation of several new policy directives in the coming months, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency is planning to dramatically ramp up continuous evaluation enrollment to 3.6 million in 2020, defense officials said.

The president is expected to sign a new national security presidential memorandum that will begin a series of modernization efforts of the governmentwide suitability, credentialing and security clearance system.

The idea is to constantly check on cleared people by automated means, rather than do periodic re-investigations.

The defense and intelligence communities are pivoting from the term “continuous evaluation” to a concept of “continuous vetting,” which the Defense Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said will shift the way they monitor and establish trust with federal employees and contractors.

The RAND Corporation estimated government could save as much as $27.8 billion over 25 years by enrolling more security clearances into a sophisticated continuous evaluation program.

As preparations continue to move the security clearance program from the Office of Personnel Management to the Pentagon, employees of the National Background Investigations Bureau have received offers to move with it.

New policies aren’t official yet, but defense and intelligence officials say they’re designing the newly renamed Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency that’s positioned for a more modern era.

The Defense Department is planning to merge the National Background Investigations Bureau, Defense Security Service and other entities within the Pentagon to form one, new security clearance entity.

Common standards across the suitability and security clearances processes may ease long-held frustrations from industry and the intelligence community.