Several FBI agents have alleged that the department has been unfairly weaponizing clearance eligibility to rid them of their due process rights, and the Department of Justice Inspector General called out the practice in a recently released report. A number of agents had their clearances suspended for more than a year, and because the clearance suspension creates a requirement of leave without pay, the agents were left to either move on and find new employment or wait unpaid as the government held their eligibility.
Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) 9 specifically provides whistleblower protections to security clearance holders and aligns with whistleblower protections outlined in U.S. Code and Presidential Policy Directive 19. Because the Department of Justice doesn’t include policies or provisions for individuals to appeal a clearance suspension in a timely process, the DoJ IG finds the Department’s current processes to be in conflict with the law and regulation.
“This lack of a DOJ appeal process for employees who allege their suspension of more than 1 year is retaliatory, as required by Section 3341 and SEAD 9, is especially problematic at DOJ components that regularly suspend employees without pay for the duration of the security review process, which can sometimes last years,” the IG report argues.
The issue of multi-year clearance suspensions is not a one off, and the IG report highlighted several instances of multi-year clearance suspensions.
“…the employee was suspended without pay for approximately 15 months before the FBI issued a decision
revoking his security clearance and it then took another 4 months for the FBI to provide the employee with
the information that the FBI used to support its revocation decision. As provided for in the Department’s
appeal process, the employee filed a request for reconsideration of the revocation decision, which remains
pending with the FBI. The employee has been suspended without pay for more than 2 years.”
FBI whistleblowers have testified before Congress about having their security clearances suspended for lengthy periods, alleging their security clearances and pay were revoked as punishment for their political views. Without any timelines required, some individuals languish for years as a ‘security review’ is conducted.
The IG report found that in the past 5 years, 106 employees have had their security clearances suspended for 6 months or longer. For those employees, the average separation during suspension was 527 days, or about 17.5 months. Those suspensions don’t include the time for the FBI to provide documentation to support the revocation, or for the individual to appeal – processes which can also take months.
The IG report calls out the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for similar processes.
