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Security clearance points to problems with access to secrets

FILE - In this June 13, 2017, file photo, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., listens during a committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Warner said an overhaul of the security clearance process is long overdue, particularly if the U.S. government is going to continue to attract top-notch workers and recent graduates, and not hamper transitions of mid-career intelligence professionals from agency to agency. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) FILE - In this June 13, 2017, file photo, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., listens during a committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Warner said an overhaul of the security clearance process is long overdue, particularly if the U.S. government is going to continue to attract top-notch workers and recent graduates, and not hamper transitions of mid-career intelligence professionals from agency to agency. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Associated Press September 12, 2017 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal agencies have inadvertently issued interim security passes to criminals while dealing with a backlog of 700,000 security clearance reviews.

The government-wide pileup is also leading to work delays for both federal and private intelligence efforts. At the same time officials are trying to reduce the backlog, they are getting pressure to tighten access to classified material.

It takes about four months to acquire a clearance to gain access to “secret” information on a need-to-know basis, and nine to 10 months for “top-secret” clearance.

The director of the U.S. Defense Security Service, Dan Payne, says if interim clearances are not issued, nothing gets done. Yet Payne also says that partial background checks can lead to people receiving access to secret and top-secret information for long periods of time.