Washington
CNN
—
The US State Department will no longer issue assignment restrictions as a condition of granting security clearance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced to the department’s workforce on Wednesday in a memo obtained by CNN.
The change comes after an intensive review of the practice, which was perceived as discriminatory by diplomats and Democratic lawmakers, particularly because the limits appeared to fall disproportionately on employees with Asian American and Pacific Islander backgrounds.
The assignment restrictions were applied by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, sometimes to employees who otherwise hold top-secret clearances, to prevent them from serving in particular countries or even, while they’re in Washington, from working on issues related to those countries.
In 2021, CNN reported that diplomats felt frustrated that they felt untrusted by their own government. Lawmakers also highlighted the issue that there was no independent appeals process to challenge decisions. Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation in 2021 to address the long-standing complaints.
Politico was first to report the changes to the assignment restrictions.
Blinken said the change came after he had lifted more than half of the restrictions during his first year as secretary of state, which opened “new possible assignments” for hundreds of US diplomats.
“Today, I’m pleased to share that after a rigorous review, I have decided that, moving forward, the Department will end its practice of issuing new assignment restrictions as a condition placed on a security clearance,” he wrote to the workforce.
There will be a review and appeal process rolled out for those who are subject to the assignment restrictions currently, he said. But some restrictions will remain in place, such as those that relate to a situation “in which a foreign country may consider an employee to be one of their own nationals” or when there are “assignments to posts rated critical for human intelligence threats,” Blinken explained.
