Dingbat Billing Dust-up Shuts Down Security Clearances

By Justin Rood - May 17, 2006, 5:36 PM

A minor billing dispute between the Pentagon and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is threatening operations throughout the U.S. national security community.

Last month, OPM -- which currently handles background investigations and issues security clearances for the defense/intelligence community -- abruptly announced it was shutting down the clearance process for new employees.