Starts and stops for FBI's Sentinel

The FBI, having voluntarily stopped work on phases three and four of its troubled Sentinel program, now wouldn't be able to re-start development work on them without approval from the Senate Appropriations Committee, if Senate appropriators get their way.

In report language accompanying the Senate Appropriations Committee's July 22 markup of the bureau's fiscal 2011 budget request, senators direct the FBI not to spend money on new development of phases three and four until the committee approves a bureau implementation plan. The report also expresses discomfort over the fact that the FBI didn't catch development problems in time to prevent a March stop work order sent to Sentinel prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

Testifying at a July 28 oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller said that phase two of the web-based investigative case management system should be rolled out across the country by fall of this year.

"My expectation is that, from what I hear from around the country, [it] is working successfully," Mueller said. FBI officials have said the project will almost certainly cost more than its most recently estimated price tag of $451 million.    

How much extra the project will cost the FBI still doesn't know, Mueller told the oversight committee, although additional expenses should not exceed $1 billion, he said in response to question from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about whether it would cost more than that.

Mueller also walked back from an earlier assertion that all phases of Sentinel will be ready in 2011.

"We're looking at alternative capabilities and with less reliance on contractors that can prove to be more expensive than if you can do it yourself in-house," Mueller said. As a result, the schedule for Sentinel completion is under study, Muller sad.

The FBI will likely continue to work with Lockheed Martin, but there could be a shift in roles "and the amount of money that we want to expend through the contractor and the amount of money we want to expend in-house to continue development," Mueller said.

In-house abilities, however, come under question in the Senate Appropriations Committee report, which also expresses disappointment that inspector general personnel embedded into the Sentinel program management office didn't catch the "inherent weaknesses of the FBI's management practices."

"The Committee expects the FBI and the IG to identify clearly the failures in the monitoring systems for Sentinel and how each office will correct its respective deficiencies," the report adds. However, the committee voted to fully fund the FBI's request for almost $8.1 billion in salaries and expenses during the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

The full House Appropriations Committee has yet to markup its bill funding the FBI for fiscal 2011.

For more:
- check out the report accompanying the Senate markup of the fiscal 2011 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill, or go to its THOMAS page
- go to the Senate Appropriations Committee homepage or to the House Appropriations Committe homepage
- check on the status of appropriations legislation for fiscal 2011
- see a webcast of the July 28 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
- read prepared statements from the hearing from Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)

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