NDIA backs Warner seeking protection for fed clearances

ARLINGTON, VA -- The National Defense Industrial Association has joined five organizations in supporting Sen. Mark Warner’s appeal to federal officials that the government shutdown not harm the security clearances of employees who are going without paychecks and may suffer financial hardship as a result.

NDIA signed with the Aerospace Industries Association, the Industrial Security Working Group, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, the Northern Virginia Technology Council and the Professional Services Council. Along with calling for guidelines that protect employees’ security clearance, the letter urged the administration “to specifically include federal contract employees in any guidance issued.”

On Friday, Jan. 25, President Trump agreed to reopen the federal government until Feb. 15 while negotiations continued about securing the country’s southwest border. About 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or working without pay for 35 days. Trump promised employees would get their back pay quickly.

Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, sent a letter Jan. 11 to Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Margaret Weichert, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management. In it, he asked for guidelines that ensure agencies don’t penalize employees if their finances were hurt by the loss of income during the shutdown. Financial stability is among the issues examined in the clearance process, and evidence of hardship can find a clearance derailed or even denied.

The letter, which includes a link to Warner’s complete statement, can be found here.