Bipartisan lawmakers worried about shaky progress on modernized government worker background check system

Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill on Oct. 23, 2023. Sessions said on Tuesday that overhauling the government worker background check system "is not a partisan issue." Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Members of both parties in a Tuesday hearing expressed concerns about continued progress on implementation of an over budget and much delayed IT system that will support an updated background check program for federal employees. 

Officials testified to the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations that work on the National Background Investigation Services system will be finished in fiscal 2028, despite an initial estimated completion date in fiscal 2019. 

The nearly decade-long setback has come at a cost. Witnesses also reported that the government has spent at least $2.4 billion on NBIS development as well as maintaining legacy systems and is expected to need $2.2 billion more to finish the project. 

In addition ...