Department of Defense contractors who believe that their security clearances were unfairly denied or revoked will soon all go to the same authority to get reviewed, under a DoD memo quietly issued in the last days of the Trump administration.
The memo instructs all DoD components — including defense intelligence components such as the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office — to send all sensitive compartment information clearance final appeals to the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals.
According to Tully Rinckey security clearance attorney Dan Meyer, that change is significant for creating a single appeals authority for what does and does not disqualify someone for receiving a security clearance at the DoD.
