Bill Targeting Security Clearance Backlog Advances in Senate

Nextgov: Lawmakers want to make the security clearance process more transparent and streamlined in an effort to shrink a backlog of more than 700,000 federal employees, applicants and contractors awaiting background checks for government jobs.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would require the National Background Investigations Bureau to report the backlog of executive branch employees waiting for background investigations. The SECRET Act moved to the full Senate with additional provisions from Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., aimed at standardizing the background check process across government and updating clearance requirements for various federal positions.

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