The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs questioned officials from the agencies in charge of issuing security clearances on how Aaron Alexis, the Navy Yard shooter, was granted access to a military site despite his history of brushes with the law and mental health problems.
Senators from both parties on Thursday grilled Elaine Kaplan, acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, on her agency’s failure to obtain a police report from the Seattle Police Department in 2007. Kaplan said that the background investigation of Alexis had met standards. Sen. Heidi Heitklamp, D-N.D., said that Alexis would not have passed a background check for a minimum wage job.
Family members of the shooting victims sat behind Kaplan as she testified.