Automatic budget cuts known as sequestration have forced the Pentagon’s Defense Security Service to suspend most routine re-investigations used to update security clearances for defense contractor employees at the “Top Secret” level, Reuters reported Wednesday.
The Pentagon security unit made this little-noticed announcement on June 7–two days before Edward Snowden, a government contractor, revealed himself as the source of the NSA leaks.
Snowden worked as a contractor for the NSA and CIA, so his security clearances would not have been impacted by these particular budget cuts, according to Reuters.
But this leak from a relatively young and low-level contractor has raised questions about whether the intelligence community is doing enough to properly vet workers for security clearances.
