GAO Issues Report on the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Program

This month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report identifying “[i]nternal control weaknesses governing the enrollment, background checking, and use of TWIC…” that it found may “…potentially limit the program’s ability to provide reasonable assurance that access to secure areas of Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA)-regulated facilities is restricted to qualified individuals.”

Specifically, the GAO indicated that internal controls in the enrollment and background checking processes are not designed to provide reasonable assurance that:

(1) Only qualified individuals can acquire TWICs;
(2) Adjudicators follow a process with clear criteria for applying discretionary authority when applicants are found to have extensive criminal convictions; or
(3) Once issued a TWIC, TWIC-holders have maintained their eligibility.

In making this finding, GAO investigators conducted covert tests at several selected ports and were successful in gaining access “…using counterfeit TWICs, authentic TWICs acquired through fraudulent means, and false business cases (i.e., reason for requesting access)."

The report suggests that the Department of Homeland Security conduct a control assessment of the TWIC program’s processes to address these existing weaknesses and better achieve the program’s objectives.