NATIONAL SECURITY/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House quietly imposed a ban on new interim security clearances for anyone in the executive office of the president last fall, but it let existing employees with interim clearances stay on, according to an email obtained by POLITICO.
The Nov. 7 internal email to senior leaders at the Office of Management and Budget said the White House personnel security office had advised that it would no longer grant interim security clearances. Pending requests for interim clearances were expected to be denied, though exceptions could be requested, according to the email.
Staffers who had already been granted interim security clearances — like former staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned last week amid allegations of domestic abuse — could continue to hold them while their background investigations were finished, the email said. The email does not shed light on the reason for the mandate, and POLITICO could not immediately determine whether the policy barring new interim clearances is still in place.
But the email nonetheless indicates that officials in the personnel security office — and perhaps others in the White House — were aware as far back as last year of the potential pitfalls of overreliance on interim security clearances, which allow staffers to handle classified material while their full clearance applications are under review.
The White House did not comment on the email or the policy changes it described.”
-Andrew Restuccia and Emily Stephenson, “White House imposed a ban on new interim security clearances last fall,” Politico, Feb. 13, 2018 08:20pm