The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) bureau responsible for issuing security clearances has not been impacted by the government shutdown as they work to reduce the major backlog of background investigations numbering 600,000 at the end of 2018, down from a high of 725,000 in April. Officials have stated that they hope to reduce the number to 300,000 by spring 2019. The OPM’s National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) is funded “through a revolving fund replenished by charges to agency customers for the background investigations work being done,” Nextgov reports. The NBIB bureau is also arranging the transition of its facilities, workloads, and 200,000 employees to the Department of Defense, to be completed by the end of fiscal 2019, although this is contingent on an executive order.
Source: Work on Security Clearance Backlog Continues Through Shutdown – Nextgov
