Nearly 1M not on payroll have security clearances

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/09/nearly-1m-not-payroll-have-security-clearances

Nearly 1M not on payroll have security clearances
By Joe Davidson
The Washington Post
© September 22, 2014

WASHINGTON

When the Government Accountability Office was looking at security clearance issues, it found a curious situation among Defense Department agencies: Some have more people eligible for clearances than they have employees.

In fact, almost a million contractors are in the Pentagon's system but are not on the payroll, according to the department.

This "suggests that DOD's clearance eligibility totals may be inaccurate,"the GAO said in its typically understated way. "Specifically, GAO found that the number of eligible employees exceeded the total number of employees in five DOD components."

As the GAO report added, inaccurate data "hampers DOD's ability to reduce its number of clearance holders to minimize risk and reduce costs to the government."

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I'm not sure I see that as a problem.

Isn't part of the process to try and hire on a vetting process to decide if you're suitable for clearance?

Some have more people eligible for clearances than they have employees.

I'm sure a lot of people passed the vetting to become 'eligible' for clearances but either weren't hired, or decided to take a different job.

I'd be a bit more concerned if they had found out that far more people who weren't hired actually were "granted" security clearances.