The Defense Department’s next-generation background investigation system has made some progress after facing lengthy delays and cost overruns, but the Government Accountability Office warned that DoD’s projected schedule to deliver the $4.6 billion program by 2028 still isn’t reliable.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are concerned that the Pentagon has yet to appoint a new director at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, which oversees development of the system.
During a Tuesday hearing hosted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, lawmakers got an update on the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) program.
Justin Overbaugh, the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, testified that “by the end of 2027, DCSA will deploy core NBIS shared services.” Those include the new Personnel Vetting Questionnaire, “enhanced data repositories, and background investigation functionalities,” Overbaugh told lawmakers.
“Key customers will transition to NBIS, and legacy IT systems will enter the final migration phase,” Overbaugh added.
DCSA provides background investigation services for 95% of the federal government. The delivery of NBIS is core to an overhaul of the government’s personnel vetting operations known as “Trusted Workforce 2.0.”
The goal is to streamline and modernize a background investigation process known for lengthy delays that hinder how quickly agencies and contractors can onboard new employees.
“By the end of 2028, DCSA will operationalize the end-to-end TW 2.0 model, enabling all agencies to use modernized vetting workflows, streamlined onboarding, and risk based continuous vetting,” Overbaugh said. “Legacy investigative products, standard forms, and systems are scheduled to sunset, culminating in a unified federal vetting ecosystem.”
Overbaugh’s update largely aligns with what DCSA officials projected at the end of 2024 when they detailed a new NBIS program plan. DCSA initiated that plan after pausing the program and conducting a review into the causes of its delays and cost overruns.
DoD launched the NBIS program in 2016 to replace legacy Office of Personnel Management background investigation systems. DoD initially projected NBIS would be delivered by 2019.
But NBIS has faced persistent cost overruns and delays stemming from poor program management and lax oversight from Pentagon officials.
Meanwhile, multiple lawmakers expressed concern that DoD has yet to select a new permanent DCSA director after David Cattler retired last September.
In the interim, Overbaugh is serving as acting DCSA director, in addition to his deputy secretary duties.
“I’m disappointed there’s still no permanent replacement for Director Cattler,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said. “Steady leadership is important for continuity and accountability. The National Background Investigation Service needs to become operational. Having a permanent director at DCSA would send a strong message that the DoD is serious about the issue.”
‘Risks’ in new NBIS schedule
The projected total price tag on the NBIS project has now ballooned to $4.6 billion through fiscal 2031. That includes the $2.4 billion spent on NBIS development and sustaining legacy background investigation systems since the program’s start. And DCSA’s latest cost estimate projects an additional $2.2 billion in NBIS costs through fiscal 2031, according to the Government Accountability Office.
GAO’s Alyssa Czyz, also testifying before the House committee, said DCSA has made progress on the NBIS program in recent years. She said the $2.2 billion figure represents a “reliable cost estimate for the first time ever” for NBIS.
“A reliable estimate should help the program better manage expenses, avoid unexpected increases and promote transparency,” Czyz said.
But she said DCSA’s project schedule for the program is “still not reliable.”
“Notably, DCSA has not done a risk analysis, and thus cannot determine where slippage is most likely to occur,” Czyz said. “Without implementing this best practice, it cannot effectively target actions to milestones that are at the most risk.”
Overbaugh acknowledged that the progress DCSA has made on NBIS is “exceptionally fragile.”
“We’re going to have to stay laser-focused on this,” he said. “We can’t wait another 10 years. We’ve already spent way too much, the American taxpayers dollars on this problem, and we are committed to delivering this capability by fiscal 2028.”
DCSA plans to finalize a “business operationalization synchronization schedule” by April to address some of the risks identified by GAO, Overbaugh said. He added that DoD would share the schedule with lawmakers.
“We will, and we must get our hands around a detailed schedule that enables the agency itself to hold itself accountable and for our oversight partners to hold us accountable,” Overbaugh said. “That is nonnegotiable. We will achieve that in the coming months.”
Overbaugh said DCSA also plans to deliver some key capabilities in the near term, including “adjudicative improvements for public trust cases, expanded use of interim secret clearances and broader application of vetting services features.”
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