Cut red tape, not capabilities

Fixing the clearance bottleneck: Cut red tape, not capabilities

Multiplied by 80,000 transactions, we are looking at nearly half a billion dollars in wasted time every year, ultimately paid by the taxpayer.

Don Blersch & Lindy Kyzer

July 17, 2025 5:16 pm

3 min read

Every year, the federal government loses hundreds of millions of dollars to a problem hiding in plain sight: redundant clearance transfer processes.

Across national security agencies, highly qualified industry professionals with active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearances are regularly delayed from starting new assignments, not due to security concerns, but because of outdated and inconsistent administrative requirements. These individuals are already cleared to work in secure facilities on classified systems. Yet when they change roles, even within the same agency, the red tape kicks in.

Here is a typical scenario: A contractor wins a one-year contract to support a critical national security mission. The good news? The team already has the right people, cleared, trained and ready to go. But instead of starting immediately, their access is revoked.

Even if they’re simply moving between agencies, or components within the same agency, they are pulled out of the system, formally debriefed, and then re-nominated for the exact same access and same level of classified information they were already cleared to handle.

From there, it only gets messier. Some offices use different IT systems and require justification memos, despite contract language that clearly states TS/SCI access is needed. Some require contractors to repeat training they’ve already completed, because one office doesn’t accept another’s documentation.

These delays aren’t rare — they’re routine. Transitions often stretch three to five weeks per person, leaving mission-critical work untouched. Contractors sit idle, either paid to wait or sidelined without compensation. Agencies fall behind schedule, burn through time-sensitive funding, and delay delivery on urgent national security priorities.

The cost adds up fast.

If there are 80,000 clearance transfer transactions every year, and just a 14-day delay per transfer, that’s 1.1 million mission days lost each year. Plus, the administrative burden alone is staggering. Even if each transaction only takes four hours of combined processing time, split between a contractor and a government employee each earning $35 per hour, the annual cost exceeds $22 million for paperwork that adds no real security value.

The impact on contractor productivity is worse. Highly specialized cleared contractors often earn $55 per hour or more. A 14-day delay costs roughly $4,400 per person in lost productivity. Multiplied by 80,000 transactions, we are looking at nearly half a billion dollars in wasted time every year, ultimately paid by the taxpayer.

And that’s assuming just a two-week delay. In many cases, it’s longer.

This isn’t a policy failure — it’s an administrative one. These professionals are already vetted. The delays come from inconsistent processes across agencies, each with its own forms, systems and requirements. We don’t need new laws — we need leadership.

Encouragingly, there are existing government efforts aimed at improving efficiency across agencies. With collaboration, coordination and modest process changes, clearance transfers could be dramatically streamlined with a concerted effort to implement already approved Trusted Workforce initiatives. Offices like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are well-positioned to help remove bottlenecks and drive shared clearance practices, ensuring professionals can get to work without unnecessary delay.

At a time when national security missions are urgent, budgets are tight, and agencies are expected to deliver results faster, removing unnecessary bureaucracy is both responsible and overdue. The problem is well understood. The numbers speak for themselves. And the solution is within reach.

Let’s fix what’s broken, so cleared professionals can get to work, missions can move forward, and taxpayer dollars can be better spent.

Don Blersch is chair, and Lindy Kyzer is vice chair, of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) Security Policy Reform Council. INSA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association dedicated to advancing collaborative, public-private-academic approaches to intelligence and national security priorities.