What if the future of national security innovation depended on fixing one of the most persistent challenges in the cleared world? Clearance reciprocity—or the lack of it—continues to plague both government agencies and the professionals who serve them. In the latest episode of ClearedCast, we dive deep into why clearance reciprocity remains a bureaucratic bottleneck, despite years of promised reforms and new policy directives.
The conversation is sparked by a 2024 Federal Times article referencing a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found 17 out of 31 surveyed agencies openly admit they don’t trust each other’s clearance adjudications. While polygraph policies and agency-specific suitability guidelines contribute to the disconnect, the biggest barrier isn’t politics—it’s spreadsheets.
Yes, spreadsheets. According to ODNI, many agencies continue to manually transfer clearance data via emailed Excel files—a practice vulnerable to human error and woefully outdated in today’s threat environment.
Even as DCSA touts a six-day onboarding process for clearances, that only addresses part of the problem. Transferring between agencies—especially into the intelligence community—remains painfully slow, often requiring reinvestigations, polygraphs, or new paperwork.
Policy alone won’t solve this. What’s needed is strong oversight, a centralized push for polygraph reform, and pressure from Congress to enforce ODNI’s authority. Without it, agencies will continue to “thumb their noses” at reciprocity directives, leaving clearance holders stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
