Marko is right on the point. But the problems are so much deeper and systemic. As a former contract investigator of 15 years, I saw procedural problems from inside out. At the core are inconsistencies and multiple interpretations of case coverage requirements. OPM plays coy that the Investigator’s Handbook is purposely vague in order to justify penalizing contractors for deficient cases. As a consequence, Investigators stumble over quarters to pick up pennies when cases are kicked back for further resolution of so called issues that have no real bearing on adjudicative concerns or national security. We have truly lost our way with this ridiculous backlog. Once the inscrutable coverage criteria for the new tier system rolled out, I knew this would only make things worse. And it has.