Is it suspicious or bda to deny getting a Top Secret

A person has a secret clearance and people at his work offers him to get a top secret clearance.

Are there valid reasons a person would NOT want to get a top secret clearance? Cant they deny getting one without issue?

It depends on what level clearance is needed for the work that needs to be done. If you don’t have the clearance to do the work, you could potentially lose your job. Was the clearance presented as optional? What was the reason the clearance was offered? My position, for example, requires a T5 investigation. Anything below that and I am not qualified for my position.

I’ve had people tell me they were happy with the clearance level they are at and did not want any higher level clearance. Usually for two reasons: they didn’t want to be assigned the additional work that would come with a higher level clearance because there was already plenty of work for them to do at their current level and/or they didn’t want their privacy and background scrutinized for various reasons. (good or bad)

If there is nothing in your background that would prevent you from being able to get TS, then you can always get it and decide after if you want to do TS work or not. More options is always better. Getting offered an upgrade to TS by your agency is usually the ideal way to do it. You can continue your Secret work while you wait for the TS (it takes a long time).

However, if you have any red flags for TS, then maybe don’t do it because a TS denial could potentially impact your current Secret.