Securely Expediting Clearances Through Reporting Transparency Act of 2017

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Securely Expediting Clearances 
Through Reporting Transparency Act of 2018'' or the ``SECRET Act of 
2018''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act--
        (1) the term ``Bureau'' means the National Background 
    Investigations Bureau of the Office;
        (2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of National 
    Intelligence acting as the Security Executive Agent; and
        (3) the term ``Office'' means the Office of Personnel 
    Management acting as the Suitability and Credentialing Executive 
    Agent.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON BACKLOG OF PERSONNEL SECURITY CLEARANCE 
INVESTIGATIONS.
    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
quarterly thereafter for 5 years, the Director of the Bureau, in 
coordination with the Director, shall submit to Congress a report on 
the backlog of personnel security clearance investigations at the 
Bureau for the most recent full calendar quarter, which shall include--
        (1) the size of the backlog of personnel security clearance 
    investigations of the Bureau, including, for each sensitivity 
    level--
            (A) the number of interim clearances granted;
            (B) the number of initial investigations for Federal 
        employees;
            (C) the number of periodic reinvestigations for Federal 
        employees;
            (D) the number of initial investigations for employees of 
        Federal contractors;
            (E) the number of periodic reinvestigations for employees 
        of Federal contractors;
            (F) the number of initial investigations for employees of, 
        and employees of contractors of, the Department of Defense;
            (G) the number of periodic reinvestigations for employees 
        of and employees of contractors of the Department of Defense;
            (H) the number of employees of the Bureau conducting 
        background investigations for the Bureau; and
            (I) the number of employees of contractors of the Bureau 
        conducting background investigations for the Bureau;
        (2) the average length of time, for each sensitivity level, for 
    the Bureau to carry out an initial investigation and a periodic 
    reinvestigation;
        (3) a discussion of the factors contributing to the average 
    length of time to carry out an initial investigation and a periodic 
    reinvestigation;
        (4) a backlog mitigation plan, which shall include--
            (A) the identification of the cause of, and recommendations 
        to remedy, the backlog at the Bureau;
            (B) the steps the Director of the Bureau shall take to 
        reduce the backlog;
            (C) process reforms to improve efficiencies in, and the 
        quality of, background investigations by the Bureau; and
            (D) a projection of when the backlog at the Bureau will be 
        sufficiently reduced to meet required timeliness standards; and
        (5) a description of improvements in the information and data 
    security of the Bureau.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON SECURITY CLEARANCE INVESTIGATIONS OF PERSONNEL OF THE 
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.
    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Director of the Office of Administration of the Executive Office of the 
President, in coordination with the Director and the Director of the 
Office, shall submit to Congress a report that explains the process for 
conducting and adjudicating security clearance investigations for 
personnel of the Executive Office of the President, including personnel 
of the White House Office.
SEC. 5. REPORT ON COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH BIFURCATED BACKGROUND 
INVESTIGATION SYSTEMS.
    Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director of the Office, in consultation with the other members of 
the Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability 
Council established under Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103) 
and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, shall submit to 
Congress a report on the cost of maintaining comprehensive background 
investigations capability within the Office under the control or 
direction of the Bureau and a background investigations capability for 
Department of Defense personnel under the control or direction of the 
Department of Defense for implementation of the plan referenced in 
section 925 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2018 (Public Law 115-91), as compared to the cost of sustaining a 
single Government-wide background investigations enterprise.
SEC. 6. REPORTS ON CONTINUOUS EVALUATION, RECIPROCITY, AND TIMELINESS 
MEASURES.
    Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director shall submit to Congress reports that provide--
        (1) the status of implementing continuous evaluation 
    Government-wide, including--
            (A) the number of agencies with continuous evaluation 
        programs and how many of those programs are currently 
        conducting automated records checks of the required data 
        sources as identified by the Director; and
            (B) a discussion of the barriers for agencies to implement 
        continuous evaluation programs, including any requirement under 
        a statute, regulation, Executive Order, or other administrative 
        requirement;
        (2) a detailed explanation of efforts by agencies to meet 
    requirements for reciprocal recognition to access classified 
    information, including--
            (A) the range of the length of time for agencies to grant 
        reciprocal recognition to access classified information;
            (B) additional requirements for reinvestigations or 
        readjudications, by agency; and
            (C) any other barriers to the timely granting of 
        reciprocity, by agency, including any requirement under a 
        statute, regulation, Executive Order, or other administrative 
        requirement; and
        (3) a review of whether the schedule for processing security 
    clearances under section 3001 of the Intelligence Reform and 
    Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 3341) should be 
    modified.
SEC. 7. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF POSITION DESIGNATION GUIDANCE.
    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
        (1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term in 
    Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103), or any successor 
    thereto;
        (2) the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; 
        and
            (B) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and 
        the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
        Representatives;
        (3) the term ``background investigation'' means any 
    investigation required for the purpose of determining the--
            (A) eligibility of a covered individual for logical and 
        physical access to Federally controlled facilities or 
        information systems;
            (B) suitability or fitness of a covered individual for 
        Federal employment;
            (C) eligibility of a covered individual for access to 
        classified information or to hold a national security sensitive 
        position; or
            (D) fitness of a covered individual to perform work for or 
        on behalf of the United States Government as a contractor 
        employee; and
        (4) the term ``covered individual''--
            (A) means a person who performs work for or on behalf of 
        the executive branch or seeks to perform work for or on behalf 
        of the executive branch;
            (B) is not limited to Federal employees;
            (C) includes all persons, not excluded under subparagraph 
        (D), who require eligibility for access to classified 
        information or eligibility to hold a sensitive position, 
        including, but not limited to, contractors, subcontractors, 
        licensees, certificate holders, grantees, experts, consultants, 
        and government employees; and
            (D) does not include--
                (i) the President;
                (ii) employees of the President under section 105 or 
            107 of title 3, United States Code (except to the extent 
            otherwise directed by the President);
                (iii) the Vice President; or
                (iv) employees of the Vice President under section 106 
            of title 3, United States Code, or an annual legislative 
            branch appropriations Act (except to the extent otherwise 
            directed by the Vice President).
    (b) Review and Updating.--
        (1) Initial review and update of guidance.--Not later than 180 
    days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director and the 
    Director of the Office shall review and make recommendations to 
    Congress and the President as appropriate to issue guidance to 
    assist agencies in determining--
            (A) position sensitivity designation; and
            (B) the appropriate background investigation to initiate 
        for each position designation.
        (2) Reviews and revisions of position designations.--Not less 
    frequently than every 4 years, the President, acting through 
    relevant agencies (as determined by the President) and in 
    accordance with the guidance described in paragraph (1), shall 
    review and, if necessary, revise the position designation of 
    positions within agencies.
    (c) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 30 days after completing a 
review under subsection (b)(2), the President shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report on--
        (1) any issues identified in the review; and
        (2) the number of position designations revised as a result of 
    the review.
    (d) No Change in Authority.--Nothing in this section limits or 
expands the authority of any agency to designate a position as 
sensitive or as requiring its occupant to have access to classified 
information.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.

Summary: Securely Expediting Clearances Through Reporting Transparency Act of 2018 or the SECRET Act of 2018 (Sec. 3) This bill requires the National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) within the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to report on its&nbsp;backlog of security clearance investigations. The report must include a backlog mitigation plan identifying the cause of, and making recommendations to remedy, the backlog. (Sec. 4) The Executive Office of the President&nbsp;must report on the process for conducting and adjudicating security clearance investigations for&nbsp;the President's staff. (Sec. 5)&nbsp;The OPM must report on the costs of maintaining comprehensive background investigations capability within both the NBIB and the Department of Defense, compared to the costs of sustaining a single government-wide background investigations enterprise.  (Sec. 6) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) must report on: (1) the status of implementing government-wide continuous evaluation programs, (2) efforts by federal agencies to meet requirements for reciprocal recognition to access classified information, and (3) whether the schedule for processing security clearances should be modified. (Sec. 7) The ODNI and the OPM must review and make recommendations to Congress and the President, as appropriate, to issue guidance to assist agencies in determining: (1)&nbsp;position sensitivity designation, and (2) the appropriate background investigation to initiate for each position designation. The President must report on any issues identified in, and the number of position designations revised as a result of, the review.