The Energy Department's surprise announcement -- the evening before the hearing -- of a major reduction of the number of personnel who would be subject to polygraph screening (from 20,000 to 4,500) was a political masterstroke. It took the senators by surprise and effectively served to blunt criticism of the Energy Department's indefensible decision, announced back in April, to completely ignore the conclusions of the NAS report.

Senator Domenici in particular seems to be placated by this announcement. But is simply reducing the number of persons subjected to this quackery enough? Hardly. Snake oil administered in smaller doses is still snake oil. The newly announced Energy Department policy still leaves thousands subject to polygraph screening and leaves open the possibility (perhaps the likelihood) that those numbers may later grow when the political climate is more favorable.

Note that the Defense Department, unlike the Energy Department, has escaped accountability for its decision to completely ignore the conclusions of the National Academy of Sciences. John P. Stenbit, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence, announced that decision less than a month after the NAS published its findings, and since then, efforts have been underway to remove existing limits and to increase DoD's reliance on polygraphy. (See, for example, the message thread, DoD Polygraph Program to Expand Under House Bill and the article, "Polygraph: An intelligence tool in growing demand" published in a publication of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.)