DoD plan will streamline contractor security clearance appeals

According to this article from Federal Times, IC contractors will have the right to appeal security clearance denials to DOHA and have an alternative to the IC agency’s appeal process.

There’s a catch, though: if the appeal is denied at DOHA, then it is more likely that the denial will affect other clearance opportunities as well. Currently, as the article notes, a denial from NSA might not affect a decision at DIA.

Here’s another interesting item:

there are non-defense agencies that have agreements with the DoD to appeal their clearance decisions to DOHA, rather than an in-house appeal

This change does not take effect right away; DOHA has until 30 Sep 2022 to certify that they can handle the additional workload. Don’t look for a transition much earlier than that!

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