Clearances

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.

Congress Doesn’t Know How to Count the Number of National Security Professionals and That’s a Problem

Instead of addressing data security or IT policies around protecting classified information, Congress goes after numbers.

The Feds are Getting More Accurate Processing Timelines for Clearances

Lindy Kyzer joins the podcast to discuss the new status quo in the clearance process.