Earlier this month we brought to you our comprehensive round-up of all of the security clearance policy changes and highlights of 2014. Here’s a round-up of things that didn’t happen.
New Adjudicative Guidelines
ODNI has been working on new security clearance Adjudicative Guidelines for about 5 years. Two sets of guidelines currently exist. One set was approved by the President in December 2005. ODNI issued guidelines in October 2008. The 2 sets of guidelines are the same, except for Guideline C—Foreign Preference. The ODNI’s version of Guideline C is much more permissive. It allows people to obtain foreign citizenship, maintain dual citizenship, and exercise of rights of foreign citizenship, including the use of foreign passports. For this reason DOD refuses to use the ODNI guidelines, and it appears that DOD and ODNI have been unable to reconcile their differences.
New SF86
The “60-Day notice and request for comments” for proposed changes to the SF86 (Questionnaire for National Security Positions) was posted to the Federal Register in March 2013. The “30-Day Notice and request for
Comments” for proposed changes to the SF86 was posted to the Federal Register July 2013. Extensive changes were made after the initial comment period, but it’s been 18 months and a new SF86 still hasn’t been approved. At least the latest proposed changes include a rewrite of Question 21 (Mental Health), and it is now written in an objective rather than totally subjective manner.
Incident Reporting
ODNI announce 2 years ago that they were developing new national standards for reporting matters that affect clearance eligibility. The new standards have been in the final stages of coordination for over a year. If and when they are issued, they will be released as SEAD 400). Currently self-reporting requirements for cleared personnel are vague, confusing, and inconsistent across federal agencies. New standardized national reporting requirements are badly needed, especially in light of the failure to report the bizarre conduct of Aaron Alexis during the month preceding the WNY Shooting that resulted in the murder of 12 people.
