By John V. Berry, Esq., www.berrylegal.com
Proposed Changes to Security Clearance Process
A new Senate Bill, S.434, the Security Clearance Accountability, Reform, and Enhancement Act of 2015 was introduced by Senator Jon Tester of Montana. The new proposed law would subject federal employees to mandatory removal for certain types of misconduct related to security clearance investigations. The new legislation was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and advances to the full Senate. It is uncertain whether or not the new bill will be passed by the full Senate and House and ultimately signed into law, but the bill has made it out of committee, which is a significant step.
The new bill, if it became law would modify the existing security clearance process for both federal employees and government contractors. The provision would require federal agencies to remove (or place on administrative leave) any federal employee found to have engaged in misconduct involving the security clearance process (e.g. federal employee found to have falsified their clearance application). The new law, if passed, would also prohibit government contractors involved in similar misconduct from performing background investigations. Finally, among other provisions, the new law would require government contractors to report violations by their employees to government agencies. A full copy of S.434 is provided here.
Conclusion
Our law firm advises federal employees and government contractors in the security clearance process. We can be contacted at www.berrylegal.com or by telephone at (703) 668-0070. Our Facebook page is located at https://www.facebook.com/BerryBerryPllc.