White House chief of staff John Kelly sent a memo to top government officials on Friday approving changes to how the Trump administration oversees background investigations and grants security clearances, a move largely seen as a response to concerns that emerged following the resignation of Rob Porter last week.
Writing to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and two top White House aides, Kelly said the Porter scandal proved, “We should — and in the future, must — do better” at vetting applicants for positions inside the administration.
Porter resigned from his position as White House staff secretary last week after his two ex-wives publicly accused him of spousal abuse. He had been operating on an interim security clearance in the West Wing for nearly 14 months.
Kelly said he has worked closely with White House counsel Don McGahn to discuss changes that need to be made to the hiring process and the need for routine status updates on individuals’ background checks.
The president’s top aide also said he ended the extension of interim security clearances to White House officials last September “absent extraordinary circumstances and my explicit approval.” He also urged the FBI to ensure the “timely return” of completed background investigations and provide estimated return dates for uncompleted ones.
“But recent events have exposed some remaining shortcomings,” he continued, adding that more needs to be done to overhaul the current system and ensure administration officials are more thoroughly vetted before they’re allowed to start on the job, and better trained to handle classified information once they have begun working.
“Now is the time to take a hard look at the way the White House processes clearance requests,” he wrote in the five-page document.
According to the memo, FBI and Justice Department officials have already offered to assist the White House with Kelly’s request to implement changes.
Kelly also directed the FBI to “discontinue any Top Secret or SCI-level interim clearances for individuals whose investigations or adjudications have been pending since June 1, 2017” by next Friday, a move that could create issues for several top West Wing officials.
The memo comes as the White House navigates the fallout from Porter’s resignation and subsequent reports that dozens of current aides to the president have yet to receive permanent security clearances.
“It is clear that new administrations will face challenges in the future and one of the most important things that a new White House staff must do correctly starting on Inauguration Day is to get the security clearance and suitability review processes right,” Kelly said.
“We have a duty to the American people to ensure that, if nothing else, clearance and security protocols are passed down and become institutional knowledge of the White House,” he added.
