ManTech’s Kevin Phillips Voices Concerns About US Security Clearance Process

Kevin Phillips, president and CEO of ManTech International, has discussed the wait times associated with the federal government’s security clearance process at a Senate panel hearing, Government Executive reported Wednesday.

“The time to get a top secret clearance is over a year, and for a secret clearance, the wait is eight months,” Phillips told Senate Intelligence Committee members Wednesday.

“Top professionals are in high demand across the nation…. They should not have to wait over a year to get a job, and they’re increasingly unwilling to deal with the uncertainty associated with this process.”

Phillips, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, pointed to the manual processes federal agencies use to vet candidates for security clearances.

“They were established during the Eisenhower administration, and investigators still have to go in person and write notes, instead of using a tablet, and they have to go by mail to send a request for an education check,” he noted.

David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council; Charlie Phalen, director of the National Background Investigation Bureau; Daniel Payne, director of the Defense Security Service; Brenda Farrell, director of defense strategic human capital management at the Government Accountability Office; and Garry Reid, director of defense intelligence at the Defense Department; also testified before the Senate panel.