Introduction

The security clearance process is designed to determine the trustworthiness of an individual prior to granting him or her access to classified national security information. The process has evolved since the early 1950s, with antecedents dating to World War II.¹ This report highlights some of the fundamental aspects of the process by providing answers to frequently asked questions.²

What Is a Security Clearance?

A security clearance³ is a determination that an individual—whether a federal employee or a private contractor—is eligible for access to classified national security information.⁴ A security clearance may be granted only by a federal agency and generally only upon completion of a background investigation. Using information obtained during the background investigation, the agency is to make a determination as to the character and trustworthiness of the individual and decide if he or she will be eligible for access to classified national security information.

A security clearance alone does not grant an individual access to specific classified materials. Rather, a security clearance means that an individual is eligible for access. To gain access to specific classified materials, an individual should also have a demonstrated "need to know" the classified information for his or her position and policy area responsibilities. In addition, prior to accessing classified information, an individual must sign an appropriate nondisclosure agreement.⁵

What Is the Difference Between a Security Clearance and a Suitability Check?

A security clearance, as noted above, is designed to determine eligibility for access to classified information. A suitability check (or suitability determination) may involve many of the same investigative elements as a security clearance investigation. A suitability check, however, is designed to determine an individual's suitability for employment or appointment to certain federal positions.⁶ Unlike a security clearance, a suitability determination does not confer access to classified information.⁷

What Are the Levels of Security Clearances?

The levels of security clearances correspond to the levels of sensitivity of the information that cleared individuals will be eligible to access.⁸ The three levels, in ascending order, are

• 1. Confidential, the unauthorized disclosure of which would "cause damage to the national security;"
• 2. Secret, the unauthorized disclosure of which would "cause serious damage to the national security;" and
• 3. Top secret, the unauthorized disclosure of which would "cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security."⁹

In addition, there are two major categories of classified information that are commonly associated with the top secret level: Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), which refers to information involving intelligence sources and methods,¹⁰ and Special Access Programs (SAPs), which refers to highly sensitive policies, projects, and programs.¹¹ These categories exist for classified information that has been deemed particularly vulnerable. Eligibility standards and investigative requirements for access to SCI and SAPs are higher than for other information classified at the same level, which further restricts the number of individuals who are eligible for access.¹²

Who Is Eligible to Obtain a Security Clearance?

An individual performing work for the federal government—whether a direct government employee, a member of the military, or a private contractor—may be eligible to obtain a security clearance if his or her work requires access to classified materials. With certain limited exceptions,¹³ an individual must hold a security clearance in order to gain access to classified materials.

Generally, only U.S. citizens are eligible to obtain security clearances.¹⁴ Under Executive Order (E.O.) 12968, with limited exceptions,

eligibility for access to classified information shall be granted only to employees who are United States citizens for whom an appropriate investigation has been completed and whose personal and professional history affirmatively indicates loyalty to the United States, strength of character, trustworthiness, honesty, reliability, discretion, and sound judgment, as well as freedom from conflicting allegiances and potential for coercion, and willingness and ability to abide by regulations governing the use, handling, and protection of classified information.¹⁵

Can an Individual Obtain a Security Clearance on His or Her Own?

An individual may not obtain or initiate a security clearance on his or her own. An individual seeking employment with the federal government, or who wishes to do work as a contractor for the government, may be interested in obtaining a security clearance on his or her own, believing that holding a security clearance may expedite the hiring process or provide him or her with an advantage when competing for government contracts. Yet only a sponsoring agency may initiate the security clearance process.¹⁶

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a clearance is based on an investigation requested by an agency that is appropriate to a specific position and its duties. Until a person is offered such a position, the government will not request or pay for an investigation for a clearance.

Are There Waivers to Security Clearance Requirements?

Yes. Under certain circumstances, an individual may be granted access to classified information prior to or without obtaining a security clearance. Often, the access is granted in time-sensitive situations and on a temporary basis while the applicant's full background investigation is completed. Table 1 below provides a list of selected security clearance waivers and exceptions.

Are Constitutional Officers (e.g., the President, Members of Congress) Required to Hold Security Clearances to Access Classified Information?

Security clearances are not mandated for the President, the Vice President, Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, or other constitutional officers.¹⁷ The criteria for election or appointment to these positions are specified in the U.S. Constitution, and, except by constitutional amendment, no additional criteria (e.g., holding a security clearance) may be required.¹⁸ Further, "by tradition and practice, United States officials who hold positions prescribed by the Constitution of the United States are deemed to meet the standards of trustworthiness for eligibility for access to classified information."¹⁹

Additionally, as commander in chief, the President has the authority to establish the standards for access to classified national security information, subject to standards set by Congress.²⁰ This authority is typically exercised through the issuance of executive orders. E.O. 13467, which covers suitability checks and security clearances for federal employees, applicants, and contractors, includes a determination of which executive branch individuals are covered and which are exempted:

'Covered individual' means a person who performs work for or on behalf of the executive branch, or who seeks to perform work for or on behalf of the executive branch, but does not include

(i) the President or (except to the extent otherwise directed by the President) employees of the President under section 105 or 107 of title 3, United States Code; or

(ii) the Vice President or (except to the extent otherwise directed by the Vice President) employees of the Vice President under section 106 of title 3 or annual legislative branch appropriations acts.²¹

Are Congressional Staff and Judicial Staff Required to Hold Security Clearances to Gain Access to Classified Information?

Congressional staff and judicial staff are required to hold security clearances to gain access to classified information. The requirements are established, for the most part, by public laws, congressional rules, and judicial procedures.

For example, the Rules of Procedure of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court states that "each member of the Court's staff must possess security clearances at a level commensurate to the individual's responsibilities."²² Within Congress, the Office of House Security and the Office of Senate Security require that staff obtain the appropriate security clearance and sign a nondisclosure agreement or "oath" for access to classified national security information.²³

How Many Individuals Hold Security Clearances in Total and at Each Level?

According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Counterintelligence and Security Center (ODNI-NCSC), approximately 4.2 million²⁴ individuals held security clearances (of any level) as of October 1, 2019.²⁵ This includes 2,859,877 security clearances at the confidential or secret levels and 1,384,060 security clearances at the top-secret level.²⁶

A total of 964,138 security clearances were approved during FY2019.²⁷ This includes 616,292 clearances approved at the confidential or secret level and 347,846 at the top-secret level.²⁸ It is important to note that the number of security clearances approved in FY2019 includes initial clearances and renewals of existing clearances that were subject to reinvestigation in FY2019. For this reason, the number of clearances approved does not reflect the number of new clearances issued.²⁹

Table 2 provides a breakdown of these figures by government and contractor employees.

What Are the Major Aspects of the Security Clearance Process?

Although the security clearance process involves a number of stages, the key steps to obtaining and maintaining a security clearance are pre-investigation, investigation, adjudication, and reinvestigation.

• Pre-investigation. During this phase, the agency makes a determination that an employee or contractor requires access to classified information for the completion of his or her duties.³⁰ At the request of the sponsoring agency, the individual would submit his or her clearance application material (e.g., Standard Form SF86).
• Investigation. Using the information provided by the applicant in his or her clearance application materials, the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency (DCSA) within the Department of Defense (DOD) conducts a background investigation of the applicant. Investigations may vary in terms of content, cost, and length of time for completion depending, in part, on the level of clearance being sought.³¹ DCSA is responsible for overseeing the majority of personnel background investigations.³²
• Adjudication. During this phase, a determination is made whether to grant the applicant a security clearance. Generally, this decision is made by the sponsoring agency and is based on the information obtained during the background investigation.
• Reinvestigation and continuous vetting. Individuals who hold security clearances are subject to periodic reinvestigations and "continuous vetting." Previously, the maximum number of years that a security clearance remained valid was tied to the individual's clearance level. For example, reinvestigations for someone with a top secret clearance occurred at least once every five years.³³ However, under the Trusted Workforce security clearance reforms, DCSA is transitioning from periodic reinvestigations to greater reliance on continuous vetting,³⁴ a system of automated records checks that alerts DCSA of potential security issues in a clearance holder's background.³⁵

Are Private Contractors Subject to the Same Clearance Process as Federal Employees Are?

Private contractors are subject to the same clearance procedures as direct government employees are. As noted above, the process to obtain a security clearance must be initiated by a sponsoring federal agency. The process differs slightly for an individual who is employed by a company that performs work under contract with the federal government. First, the contractor must determine whether the employee requires access to classified information in order to perform the duties of his or her position.³⁶ The contractor must inform the sponsoring agency (i.e., the "customer" agency for whom the work is being performed) that the employee requires access to classified materials. The sponsoring agency considers the request and then determines whether to initiate the security clearance process for the employee.³⁷

Which Agencies Are Responsible for Conducting Background Investigations?

Previously, the Office of Personnel Management oversaw approximately 95% of all background investigations.³⁸ Responsibility for personnel security background investigations was transferred from OPM to DOD in 2019.³⁹ Currently, DCSA conducts about 95% of all background investigations for executive branch departments and agencies.⁴⁰

While DCSA oversees the majority of security clearance background investigations, at least 21 federal agencies have delegated or statutory authority to conduct all or some of their own investigations.⁴¹ For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives have authority to conduct security clearance background investigations of certain categories of contractor positions.⁴² The Central Intelligence Agency has authority to conduct its own security clearance background investigations.⁴³ It also conducts background investigations for ODNI employees and contractors.⁴⁴

Who Pays for Background Investigations?

Typically, the requesting agency pays for background investigations of federal employees and contractor employees.⁴⁵ As stated above, the vast majority of federal background investigations are handled by DCSA, which charges other federal agencies for the investigations it oversees.⁴⁶ The costs of background investigations vary depending on the level of clearance requested and the scope of the investigation conducted.⁴⁷

The requesting agency is responsible for any costs associated with the adjudication process and period reinvestigations. The requesting agency is also responsible for certain costs arising from an applicant's appeal of a security clearance denial or revocation or an applicant's challenge of certain aspects of his or her background investigation (e.g., an appeal of unfavorable results of a polygraph examination).⁴⁸

On Average, How Long Does It Take to Obtain a Security Clearance?

The ODNI-NCSC 2019 Report on Clearance Determinations provides data on the longest and shortest security clearance processing times for each element of the intelligence community.⁴⁹ In FY2019, the end-to-end average processing time for the fastest 90% of clearances was 125 days for secret level and 172 days for top secret. This exceeded the timeliness goals of 74 days and 114 days for initial secret and top secret clearances, respectively.⁵⁰ The average processing time for reinvestigations was 176 days, which met the goal of 195 days.⁵¹ The report notes that the executive branch and intelligence community personnel security programs were challenged by "the uncertainty of future budgets, furlough, and the increasingly competitive marketplace for background investigators and polygraphs."⁵²

Are There Guidelines of Standards for Approving, Denying, or Revoking a Security Clearance?

All adjudicative decisions are made by federal employees—not contractors—using the following 13 criteria provided in the Adjudicative Guidelines:⁵³

Each guideline describes the associated circumstances that could raise a security concern and notes which circumstances may be disqualifying. Adverse information regarding one of the guidelines will not automatically result in denial of a security clearance.⁵⁴ Adjudicators are instructed to consider the recentness of the information and whether it demonstrates a recurring pattern of adverse behavior.⁵⁵ Adjudicators are also instructed to consider any conditions that could mitigate the associated security concerns.⁵⁶

Can the Outcome of a Security Clearance Determination Be Appealed?

An individual whose clearance has been denied or revoked has an opportunity to appeal the determination. Each agency that is responsible for adjudicating and granting security clearances has its own policies and procedures governing the appeal of a security clearance determination in accordance with guidelines established in E.O. 12968.⁵⁷ In addition, some agencies may allow an applicant to appeal or challenge unfavorable results of a polygraph examination that was conducted as part of his or her security clearance background investigation.⁵⁸ Appeals are typically handled within the agency and decided by the agency's personal security appeals board or by an administrative judge.⁵⁹ While the outcome of a security clearance determination may be appealed, security clearance decisions are generally not subject to judicial review.⁶⁰

May a Security Clearance Granted by One Agency Be Accepted by Other Agencies?

With certain exceptions, a security clearance granted by one agency must be accepted by other agencies, though it is difficult to determine the degree to which reciprocity of security clearance background investigations and determinations actually occurs among agencies.⁶¹ Under Section 3001(d) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, "all security clearance background investigations and determinations completed by an authorized investigative agency or authorized adjudication agency shall be accepted by all agencies."⁶²

There are limited exceptions to this general principle, particularly among top secret, SCI, and SAPs. For example, each agency has authority to conduct an additional investigation if the one on record is a certain number of years old, and each agency may add requirements to the process, such as a polygraph examination. However, under Security Executive Agent Directive 7, an agency may not deny reciprocity due to additional investigative requirements, such as a polygraph examination. Instead, this directive instructs agencies to make preliminary reciprocity determinations pending the completion of any remaining investigative requirements (e.g., polygraph). In FY2021, the DCSA Consolidated Adjudication Services Reciprocity Program processed reciprocity cases in one to three days, down from an average of 65 days in FY2020.⁶³ Since FY2022, DCSA has processed reciprocity cases in a single day, on average.⁶⁴