Virginia Senator Mark Warner has called on the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management to establish some leniency in security clearances for financial challenges that arise as part of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of its determination of trustworthiness, security clearance investigations evaluate the financial stability of a candidate in order to establish whether the person may be susceptible to outside influence of blackmail.
But Warner noted that the spread of the coronavirus may require people to stay home to self-quarantine or otherwise miss out on paychecks.
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“While I understand that departments and agencies may already have certain discretion to consider broader contextual factors that may affect personnel vetting decisions, I ask you to issue clear and public guidance that departments and agencies may in no way penalize employees’ clearances or determinations of trustworthiness due to circumstances associated with coping with COVID-19. This guidance should apply to any information used in an initial clearance, a periodic reinvestigation or a continuous evaluation program,” wrote Warner in a March 11 letter.
The call mirrors similar recommendations that security clearance leaders offer leniency to employees whose finances had been negatively impacted by the 2018-2019 government shutdown.
“The problem is particularly acute for younger workers who lack a long credit history. Psychological strain can naturally accompany such circumstances, exacerbating the situation,” wrote Warner.
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
