Not thinking clearly
By Ken Showers
Updated 11:22 AM CST, Wed December 17, 2025
While the rest of the country is buried under snow, I’ve found it unseasonably warm, and I’m hot under the collar this week as I have to deal with security issues of my own.
That’s right readers, due to a comedy of errors for the past two weeks I’ve found myself on the wrong side of OPSEC and as a result subject to the extreme annoyances of extra security measures. But I’m following through with the process until things get resolved because accountability is important.
So, color me interested when the government is being dinged for its own personnel security clearances by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). According to the report the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) doesn’t have accurate and complete data in most cases with which to oversee the clearance process.
Should be a simple enough matter to clear up with some housekeeping from the head of ODNI who is, let’s see….
…Oh.
In fairness, ODNI put the vetting process on its high-risk list as far back as 2018, the fact that it remained there despite there being a changing of the guard in Washington during that period is a testament to how easily overlooked this small but critically important process is.
It’s also something I don’t foresee being updated and brought into security compliance any time in the near future unfortunately. Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro’s term in the GAO is up this month, and that appointment has a 15-year term. What happens in the following 15 years is anyone’s guess, but I don’t have high hopes.
Comments