House Committee Wants to Know How Many DoD Employees Are Mishandling Classified Information

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is seeking information from the Defense Department as to how many cases it has opened in recent years for employees’ mishandling of classified information.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter asking for documentation regarding the number of cases the Defense Department has opened recently for non-compliance by its employees with security regulations.

The letter was sent by Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Subcommittee on National Security Chairman Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

In the letter, the Congressmen note that of the more than 2.8 million individuals who are “in access” to classified information and hold security clearances, roughly 80% of them are sponsored by the Defense Department.

The Congressmen also note that there are 13 guidelines that dictate the decision to give a person access to classified information, two of which focus on whether or not somebody has mishandled it in the past. The Congressmen are specifically interested in getting data on these points and asked Carter to deliver documentation no later than the close of business on August 2 to show the number of cases DoD had opened for non-compliance with security regulations between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013.

A copy of the letter is included below.

Letter to Ashton Carter Re: Security Clearance Violations

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.