In case you’ve forgotten, it’s an election year. With presidential politics all over the news, a familiar topic recently rose to the surface – how could the current president obtain a security clearance? Short answer: he didn’t. And neither has any previously elected president – at least as far as the traditional security clearance background investigation process is concerned.
The president’s eligibility to access classified information is incurred based on a constitutionally assigned role. As the head of the executive branch, the president actually establishes national security policy – including classification guidance. The topic has come up similarly with critics arguing that the president has abused security clearance policy – but the reality is the president can declassify just about anything he wants, whenever he wants. The constitution sets very minimal limitations on the president’s national security authority.
Congressional Security Clearances
The roles for members of congress are similar. While congressional roles typically require less access to national security secrets, some members of congress, particularly those serving on intelligence committees, also obtain access to classified information – and that access is based on their election to office, not a traditional background investigation process.
Financial Issues and Classified Information
Financial issues are the top reason for security clearance denial, and the reason is related to susceptibility to blackmail. An individual with significant debt may be seen as more likely to compromise national security in order to obtain financial assistance. But when it comes to debt, not all debt is created equally. Debt related to a business or resulting from an economic downturn is not seen as unfavorably as an individual who simply ignored or failed to pay any debts incurred. In that regard, financial issues are also tied to reliability and trustworthiness.
