The federal government may soon be done outsourcing background checks to private companies — including the disgraced firm that cleared NSA leaker Edward Snowden — The Post has learned.
“There is an idea floating around that all primary investigations should be done by the government,” said a defense-industry insider who met recently with several prominent Republican senators.
The shift comes as the Department of Justice filed a blockbuster suit Wednesday against the background-check company USIS, claiming that from at least March 2008 through September 2012 the company sought payment for background investigations when it knew the contractually required quality reviews had not been done.
“Due to USIS’s fraudulent conduct, [the Office of Personnel Management] accepted and paid for background investigations it would not otherwise have accepted or paid for had it known the truth,” the lawsuit said.
Outside of the suit, USIS also allegedly failed to do a proper background check on National Security Agency leaker Snowden.
Private equity firm Providence Equity Partners purchased USIS, the government’s biggest outside background investigator, in a $1.5 billion leveraged buyout. The 2007 purchase put the company deeply in debt.
Since then, USIS has allegedly cut staff and the quality of its work has declined as it made burdensome loan payments.
A government policy change in doing its own checks on prospective federal employees would likely be part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Bill, the source said.
The bill would be drafted this summer.
The Office of Personnel Management has on average been conducting over 2.2 million background investigations per year, many of which are farmed out to companies such as USIS.
Besides allegedly botching Snowden’s background check, USIS cleared Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis.