Key Takeaways
- •Justin Overbaugh (Acting Director, Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency) set a fiscal year 2026 target for full operational capability of the delayed National Background Investigation Services system.
- •Alissa Czyz (Director, Government Accountability Office) warned that the Department of Defense lacks a reliable cost baseline, leading to $100 million in annual redundant legacy spending.
- •Rep. Tim Burchett (R, TN-2) pressed Overbaugh on the lack of personnel accountability for project failures, comparing the ongoing delays and cost overruns to a failing contractor.
- •While both parties criticized the delays, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R, NC-5) focused on small business impacts while Rep. Maxwell Frost (D, FL-10) emphasized the human toll on applicants.
- •The Department of Defense will complete a program re-baseline by the end of the fiscal year to establish a verified lifecycle cost estimate and decommissioning schedule.
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Hearing Analysis
Overview
The House Subcommittee on Government Operations convened on February 24, 2026, to conduct an oversight hearing titled “An Update on DoD’s Struggling Background Check System.” Chaired by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX-17), the hearing focused on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ongoing and troubled efforts to modernize the federal personnel vetting infrastructure through the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS). Since the 2019 transfer of background investigation responsibilities from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to the DOD, the program has faced significant scrutiny regarding its technical execution, cost overruns, and schedule slippage.
Key Testimony
The hearing featured testimony from Alissa Czyz, Director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Justin Overbaugh, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and Acting Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). Ms. Czyz testified that while the executive branch has successfully reduced the massive investigation backlog that peaked in 2018, the GAO continues to designate the personnel security clearance process as a "high-risk" area. She highlighted that the DOD has failed to establish a reliable master schedule or a comprehensive life-cycle cost estimate for NBIS. This lack of baseline data, she argued, prevents effective congressional oversight and forces the DCSA to waste resources maintaining over 100 legacy IT systems alongside the unfinished NBIS.
Mr. Overbaugh defended the DOD’s progress, noting that the DCSA has eliminated the 725,000-case investigation backlog and is meeting timeliness goals for 90 percent of its investigations. He emphasized the implementation of the "Trusted Workforce 2.0" initiative, which shifts the government from periodic reinvestigations to "continuous vetting." This model currently monitors over four million individuals in real-time. Regarding NBIS, Mr. Overbaugh acknowledged past failures but stated the agency has reorganized its program management office and adopted "agile" development methodologies to deliver functionality in smaller, more frequent increments. He projected that the core functionality of NBIS would be operational by the end of fiscal year 2025, with full decommissioning of legacy systems by 2026.
Overview
The discussion of industry impact centered on the primary system integrator, Peraton Inc. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX-26) questioned why the DOD had not terminated contracts for default despite the delays. Mr. Overbaugh explained that the DCSA has used award fee reductions to penalize Peraton but argued that starting over with a new vendor would cause even greater delays. The hearing also touched on the broader federal workforce, with Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10) noting that the average wait time for a Top Secret clearance remains 150 days—an improvement from 200 days but still a deterrent for young professionals and transitioning veterans.
Key Testimony
Several organizations were central to the testimony. The Department of Defense (DOD) was the primary subject of oversight regarding its management of the transition. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided the critical auditing framework, asserting that the DOD’s "agile" claims lacked the necessary discipline of a prioritized backlog. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) was discussed as the lead agency responsible for the daily execution of vetting and the development of NBIS. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was referenced as the former host of the vetting mission, with members recalling the 2015 data breach as a reason for heightened security concerns. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were mentioned in the context of interoperability, as NBIS must eventually automate data pulls from their respective databases. The Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (DOD CIO) was noted for its role in ensuring NBIS aligns with department-wide IT standards.
Overview
Partisan dynamics showed a unified frustration with the project’s pace, though Republican members were more vocal about contractor accountability and fiscal waste. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-2) compared the project to a failing home contractor and questioned why no officials had been fired. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5) expressed skepticism toward the new 2025 deadline, noting that previous promises had been broken. Democratic members, including Ranking Member Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-7) and Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-DC), focused on the human capital challenges, such as investigator training and the impact of system interface issues on employee retention.
The hearing concluded with a demand for more transparency. Chairman Sessions requested a detailed breakdown of cost overruns and the original budget baseline. The subcommittee gave the witnesses five legislative days to respond to additional written questions, specifically regarding the technical mapping of data during migration to prevent record loss or corruption.
Transcript
[Gavel sounds.] The Subcommittee on Government Operations will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess of the subcommittee at any time. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Today, we are here to discuss the Department of Defense's ongoing efforts to modernize its background check system. For years, the GAO and this committee have highlighted the significant challenges and delays in the security clearance process. These delays not only impact our national security but also the lives of thousands of dedicated public servants and contractors who are waiting to serve their country. The transition to the National Background Investigation Services, or NBIS, was intended to streamline this process and provide a more secure and efficient system. However, as we will hear today, the implementation of NBIS has been fraught with technical difficulties, cost overruns, and schedule delays. We need to understand why these issues persist and what the Department is doing to address them. Our witnesses today are on the front lines of this effort, and I look forward to their testimony on how we can ensure that our background check system is robust, reliable, and ready for the challenges of the 21st century. I now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Mfume, for his opening statement.
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