Often security clearances are considered an overhead function barely gaining the mention or attention of senior leaders. But the spotlight was back on the security clearance process Monday when President Donald Trump issued two executive orders addressing security clearances – one rescinding the security clearance eligibility of the 50 individuals who signed the Hunter Biden laptop memo, which described the controversy as a “Russian information operation,” and another offering immediate interim eligibility to presidential appointees whose background investigations have not yet been completed.
The “Memorandum to Resolve the Backlog of Security Clearances for Executive Office of the President” decries delays in executive personnel onboarding. The memo states the White House Counsel will provide the White House security office with a list of personnel to be immediately granted interim Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearances with immediate access to facilities and technology necessary to do their jobs.
The order notes these interim clearances aren’t to exceed six months, implying the White House intends for these individuals to go ahead and undergo a background investigation process through the FBI, which has historically been tasked with the job of conducting the vetting process for Senate-confirmed presidential employees and transition staff.
The order is less about addressing a backlog and more about the president exercising his constitutional right to grant clearances to the personnel he wants to – when he wants to – without waiting for traditional procedures.
The incoming president has vowed to do things his way more fully the second time around and avoid getting policy priorities entrenched in government process. This is one example of how he might use the security clearance process to achieve that goal.
It’s worth noting here that the term backlog is almost certainly misapplied – at least if you’re using historic references to the security clearance process as context. FBI personnel aren’t sitting on stacks of unworked cases as was the case back in 2018, when pending cases reached over 725,000 at the Office of Personnel Management. Trump’s team suggested circumventing the FBI background investigation process initially when he won the election, and then decided to move forward with the traditional process. Some senior personnel the president likely intends to offer interim clearances to may have been submitted to the FBI just days prior to his election.
Trusted Workforce: a Trump effort
While the first Trump administration had its issues with classified information, it’s also responsible for ushering in the first era of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 security clearance reform effort – the most comprehensive security clearance reform effort since the security clearance system was created in World War II. That effort continued and gained steam under the Bidenadministration, which issued the TW 2.0 Implementation Strategy in 2022. That strategy created the backbone of interagency coordination and reform efforts, which are critical for improving the security clearance process not just for political appointees, but for personnel across government. The progress and potential of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 reform effort was codified in a Transition Report released by the Performance Accountability Council Program Office last week, before Jason Miller, chief performance officer and deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget stepped down, making way for a new political appointee to oversee the security clearance change management process.
And the security clearance process is one that has been ripe for change for years. A modern personnel vetting process has been the goal of TW 2.0, but where the rubber meets the road is at the agency level, where departments, agencies and organizations then go about doing the work. And that’s the stage we’re in today. With two executive orders already issued it’s clear the Trump administration is going to be paying attention to security clearances and personnel vetting.
Rather than weaponizing the process, one can hope the president and his newly created Department of Government Efficiency will seek to continue to improve it – for everyone – and not just a select number of individuals who need expedited eligibility. Administration priorities shift with every election cycle, but one is constant: the demand for a more efficient government hiring process including security clearance eligibility and vetting.
Lindy Kyzer is a former Defense Department civilian and current vice president at ClearanceJobs.com. She also serves as vice-chair of the Security Policy Reform Council with the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.
Jesus Christ is King
