Clearances
New bill would require FBI recommendation on security clearances for White House appointees
The Security Clearance Review Act — cosponsored by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., would require the president to provide Congress with written justification for overruling an FBI clearance denial of executive office appointees.
Trusted Workforce 2.0: Moving the chains to phase three in federal vetting reform
COMMENTARY | “It's no longer just about strategy—it's about execution,” writes one expert.
Trusted Workforce is the kind of bipartisan, broad government reform we need
COMMENTARY | Creating better, more agile processes for onboarding federal workers, is an example of the kind of reform that’s difficult, but not impossible when government agencies and the executive and legislative branches work together, writes one observer.
Candidate-centric vetting: A new era of mobility
COMMENTARY | Improved tracking of suitability determinations would lead to true reciprocity and transfer of trust, writes one Trusted Workforce 2.0 expert.
High crimes and mental competency don’t keep presidents from security clearances because, they don’t get them
COMMENTARY | Even more important than the president when it comes to protecting classified information are those national security professionals with the jobs of ensuring it is briefed, stored, and shared properly, writes one security clearance expert.
Easing federal marijuana rules: There’s still a long way to go
The Drug Enforcement Administration typically looks at three factors when assessing how strictly to regulate a drug: its medicinal value, potential for abuse relative to other drugs and ability to cause physical addiction.
An inspector general warned the Justice Department of gaps in its security clearance appeals process
The department and its component agencies have failed to implement a provision of the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act guaranteeing federal employees of the right to appeal lengthy security clearance suspensions.
Honesty is always the best policy, but it isn’t a silver bullet for security clearances
COMMENTARY | Candor isn’t helping the growing number of security clearance holders and applicants with drug use issues.
National Security compensation set a record high in 2023
COMMENTARY | The uptick in cleared compensation is good news for the national security workforce and also a good thing for national security.
How diverse candidates can better navigate the security clearance process
COMMENTARY | Simple steps can make the security clearance process less of a barrier to keeping diverse candidates out of government careers.
Elon Musk and why you should never compare when it comes to security clearances
COMMENTARY | The government looks holistically at the benefits and risks to national security with each clearance granted.
GAO: Agencies need to trust each other’s background check processes
An array of technical and cultural challenges plague the federal government’s ability to OK the transfer of federal employees across agencies, the government watchdog found.
Could ketamine use cause problems for your security clearance eligibility?
COMMENTARY | When it comes to drug treatments, there’s one key to staying on the right side of a security clearance adjudication.
Continuous vetting identifies risks earlier, and is getting ready to roll out across government
COMMENTARY | If there is an issue that could be flagged, federal employees should report it now, and get help, an expert says.
OPM announces expansion of ‘continuous vetting’ security clearance process for current feds
After a successful pilot, the federal government’s HR agency and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency set a goal of enrolling all employees in non-sensitive public trust positions in the new process for reviewing existing security clearances by the end of fiscal 2024.
Bill allowing past cannabis users to become feds advances in House
The bipartisan legislation was amended this week to remove provisions allowing current marijuana users to be eligible for federal employment or a security clearance.
National security needs ‘whole people,’ not perfect people
COMMENTARY | The whole person concept is one of the most critical elements of the security clearance process, and one of the most vitally important ones to improving communication around mental health and wellness, writes one observer.
Study: Mental health stigmas persist throughout the security clearance process
A new report from Leidos finds that mental health perceptions hurt pipelines of talent into the intelligence community.
Cannabis users could become feds under bipartisan House bill
The legislation also would allow federal job applicants who were previously denied positions or security clearances over marijuana usage dating back to 2008 to have those decisions reviewed under the newly proposed policy.
Leading the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency may be a job no one wants – but it’s an important one
COMMENTARY | “It’s vitally important that the Defense Department onboard the right person for the job, to continue to keep the workforce stabilized and growing,” writes one observer.
The Cure for What Ails the Government’s Security Clearance Process: Automation
Most, if not all, of the manual steps traditionally done by federal employees or contractors can now be done by modern technologies, writes one expert.
