Bradley Partner Aron Beezley Quoted in Law360 on DOD Background Checks

Bradley attorney Aron Beezley was quoted in Law360 on legislation that requires the Pentagon’s industrial security unit, the Defense Security Service, to take over all Department of Defense related background checks for military contractors and personnel from the National Background Investigations Bureau.

Background checks, and a backlog hundreds of thousands of people long, has proven a huge issue in light of major security concerns. And that backlog has been a headache for the contractors who cannot put personnel to work on jobs that require clearances until their investigations come through, and in many cases that can take months.

“At the end of the day, federal contractors just want a robust process but one that’s faster. And they want the backlog reduced. And so, how that happens, ultimately I don’t think most federal contractors care, as long as it does happen,” said Beezley.

Contractors are likely to only care about the transition from NBIB to DSS, Beezley explained, if it can speed up the backlog for Pentagon-related background checks, as supporters of the switch assume.

There are times where contractors must hire personnel only to have to look elsewhere when the chosen individual, after months of waiting, doesn’t make it past the background investigators, Beezley said. And that creates far more work, and potentially extra costs, for the employer trying to fill roles that often require highly specialized talent, and it may also force companies to focus their hiring efforts on already-cleared personnel.

“Finding another individual to replace that individual can be very difficult. In other words, these employees generally are not fungible,” Beezley said.

The complete article, “DOD Shakes Up Background Checks In Takeover,” appeared in Law360 on January 4, 2018.