SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00268R000600010010-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2013
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: December 20, 1955
• Content Type: MEMO

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CONFIDENTIAL
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT /
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
WASHINGTON
December 20, 1955
MEMORANDUM FOR THE NSC PLANNING BOARD
SUBJECT: Security Requirements for Government Employment
REFERENCES: A, Executive Order 13450, April 27, 1953, as
amended October 13, 1953, May 27, August 2
and August 5, 1954 '
B. Memo for NSC, August 22, 1955
C. Record of Meeting of Planning Board,
September 19, 1955
D. NSC Action Nos. 791 and 1368
The enclosed report on the subject, prepared by
staff representatives of the Department of Justice, the Civil
Service Commission and the Bureau of the Budget pursuant to
Planning Board agreement on September 19, 1955, is transmitted
herewith for consideration by the Planning Board at an early
meeting.
JAMES S. LAY, Jr.
Executive Secretary
cc: The Chairman, Civil Service Commission
The Chairman, Interdepartmental Intelligence
Conference
The Chairman, Interdepartmental Committee on Internal
Security
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C
CONFIDENTIAL
December 191 1955
MEMORANDUM FOR THE NSC PLANNING BOARD
SUBJECT:
Security Requirements for Government Employment
REFERENCES: a) Memo for Budget Bureau Representative
Special Assistant to the President,
1955, same subject.
b) PB Record of Meeting of September 19,
c) Memo for NSC of August 221 1955, same
d) NSC Action 1368, March 31, 1955.
e) Record of Action of Cabinet meeting,
19551 same subject.
f) NSC Action 791, May 20, 1953.
from
October 4,
1955.
subject.
January 7,
The Fourth Report of the Civil Service Commission on the
above subject contains the following recommendation:
"A. That the Personnel Security Advisory Committee,
now conducting its coordinating function on an
informal and unofficial basis in the Executive
Office of the President, be formally established
and thereby given public recognition."
In a memorandum of October 4, 1955, the Special Assistant
to the President suggested that:
"To facilitate Planning Board consideration...(of
the above recommendation)..., it is suggested that the
Bureau of the Budget, in collaboration with the Depart-
ment of Justice and the Civil Service Commission, fur-
nish advice and comments relative to the advantages and
disadvantages of formally establishing an advisory com-
mittee on the subject in the Executive Office of the
President. In line with the Planning Board Record of
Action, dated September 191 19551 it is suggested that
the Budget Bureau advise as to funding, organizational,
and related implications involved in such ?formal
establishment?".
This memorandum has been prepared jointly by staff of the
three agencies. Thisis not to be taken as an indication that the
agencies subscribe to all the views expressed therein.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
The Staff Memorandum contains a number of judgments con-
cerning the feasibility of various methods of accomplishing
the desired objectives, i.e., by Executive order, administrative
action, or otherwise. The group wishes to point out that these
questions can only be determined with precision following the
usual formal clearance, including legal, of a matured proposal.
The group points out the important interrelationship be-
1 ,tween the subject proposal and the recent establishment by law
of the Commission on Government Security. The problem of this
interrelationship may be one of the most important aspects of
the proposal which the Planning Board should consider.
Attachment
/s/ G. F. Schwarzwalder
Representative of the Bureau of the Budget
/s/ William F. Tompkins, Jr.
Representative of the Department of Justice
/s/ Joseph E. Winslow
Representative of the Chairman of the Civil
Service Commission
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CONFIDENTIAL
December 19, 1955
STAFF MEMORANDUM FOR NSC PLANNING BOARD
PROPOSAL
"That the Personnel Security Advisory Committee...be
formally established and thereby given public recognition,"
BACKGROUND
The following provide the principal background for the
consideration of the proposed organizational recommendation:
Res onsibillIIIIJILLemaImuLLIIL_Jua=a: Section 13 of
E.O. 10 50 provides that "The Attorney General is requested to
render to the heads of departments and agencies such advice as
may be requisite to enable them to establish and maintain an
appropriate employee-security program."
)lesponsib'lities of the Service_Complission: Section
14a of E,O. 10 5o provides that "The Civil Service Commission,
with the continuing advice and collaboration of representatives
of such departments and agencies as the National Security
Council may designate, shall make a continuing study of the
manner in which this order is being implemented by the depart-
ments and agencies of the Government for the purpose of
determining:
"(1) Deficiencies in the...programs established under this
order...
"(2) Tendencies...to deny to individual employees....
"Information affecting any department or agency developed
or received during the course of such continuing study shall be
furnished immediately to the head of the department or agency
concerned. The Civil Service Commission shall report to the
National Security Council, at least semi-annually, on the results
of such study, and shall recommend means to correct any sucA
deficiencies or tendencies."
Bp_ap_onsi.esofthe.iatiolai pcuritv .: In
accordance with the above two sections, the National Security
Council is responsible for: (a) designating the departments
and agencies to provide continuing advice to and collaboration
with the Civil Service Commission, and (b) receiving the reports
of the Civil Service Commission.
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CONFIDENTIAL
'\
Designation of Agencies: Pursuant to its responsibilities
under section 14a, the NSC by NBC Action 791 on May 20, 1953,
designated the ICIS as the agency to provide continuing advice
and collaboration.
On March 31, 1955, by NSC Action 1368, the NSC designated
the Internal Security Division of the Department of Justice,
in lieu of ICIS, previously designated, as the agency to provide
the continuing advice and collaboration.
LablW_AgLisla: On January 7, 1955, the Cabinet heard an
oral presentation by the Attorney General of the Government
employee security program and "noted the assignment of Mr.
Thomas J. Donegan as a member of the Department of Justice
(1) to advise department heads on difficult security cases
requiring coordination; (2) to review the program as a whole;
and (3) to advise Administration officials who may be called
by Congress for testimony on this program."
Personnel Security Advisory Committee: The Personnel
Security Advisory Committee was set up in January 1955 as a
direct outgrowth of the Cabinet action referred to above and
has been meeting on a regular basis since its creation.
The Committee, under the chairmanship of a Special
Assistant to the Attorney General, is composed of representa-
tives of State, Defense, Treasury, Justice, AEC, and CSC. The
expenses of the Committee are met by contributions of the
principal agencies concerned. Personnel are contributed as
follows: Chairman, Justice; staff member, CSC; staff member,
State; administrative assistant, State; typist, CSC. In addi-
tion, the White House provides space, telephone service, and
most of the equipment needs.
DISADVANTAGES OF PROPOSAL
In a memorandum of November 22, 1955, the Justice repre-
sentative on the Planning Board sets forth the following as
disadvantages:
...This Department sees certain serious disadvantages
in the recommendation of the Chairman of the Civil Service
Commission. Unless the Committee were to be given powers
which it does not now possess, it is difficult to see how
it would function any differently from the way it does at
the present time. Even if no additional powers and re-
sponsibilities were given to the Committee, placing the
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CONFIDENTIAL
Committee on the White House staff* would definitely create
the impression of White House sanction to any action it
would take, thus derogating from the basic concept of
Executive Order 10450 that full and ultimate responsibility
for action taken thereunder must remain in the head of a
department or agency. Furthermore, in the public mind
there would certainly be created the impression of central
domination of the whole program and would open it to attack
as being directed by a 'czar'. We believe no action should
be taken which would in any way take responsibility for
final decisions from the head of a department or agency.
"The President has previously expressly indicated that
he does not wish to have any function of the type performed
by this Committee attached to the National Security Council.
I am of the opinion that the same considerations preclude
attaching such a function directly to the Office of the
President. Should there be any considerations leading to
a change in the present status of the Committee, it is my
view that functionally the only logical place for such a
Committee would be in the Civil Service Commission,"
r, AD NIAQQF,PBOPO SAL
The representative of the Chairman of the Civil Service
Commission cites five principal deficiencies in the over-all
operations of the security program which the proposed organiza-
tional change is designed to correct. Expressed in terms of
the needs of the program, they are:
"1. A policy coordination function to insure the maximum
amount of consistency in the application and interpre-
tation of the security program among the agencies of
the Executive Branch.
"2. An operating coordination function to insure the maxi-
mum amount of consistency in the day-to-day operation
of security officers with respect to methods, pro-
cedures, internal machinery, reports, etc.
An advisory function to deal with cases which may
cross departmental or agency lines or which might
command an unusual amount of public attention.
*The representative of the Chairman of the Civil Service Com-
mission points out that the proposal would establish the Com-
mittee in the Executive Office of the President and not in the
White House.
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CONFIDENTIAL
"4, A public relations function to provide a single
focusing point for all public relations contacts
having to do with the program, including Congressional
inquiries.
"5. A thinking function which will view the program as a
whole from the forest rather than the trees point
of view."
It is further presented that:
"...Despite its informal and unofficial basis, the
Personnel Security Advisory Committee has had a large
measure of success in meeting the over-all needs of the
program. It has been most helpful not only in terms of
developing uniform policies, but also in dealing with
Congressional inquiries, investigations, and advising on
individual cases.
"The needs outlined above can only be met from an
organizational position above departmental lines. The
official establishment of this office in the Executive
Office of the President would do much to clarify internal
relations between departments and agencies. It would have
great public relations value. It would, moreover, give an
official home for continuing certain of these functions
which have already demonstrated their usefulness and would
provide a single focusing point for the personnel security
program which will become more and more necessary in the
near future. Such a central focusing point, with coordi-
nating functions, would in no way violate or interfere
with the basic concept of the security enforcement dele-
gated to individual department and agency heads."
ORGANIZATIONAL AND RELATED ISSUES FOR PLANNING BOARD
CONSIDERATION
The Chairman of the Civil Service Commission has provided
a draft Executive Order, a copy of which is attached. This
draft was prepared solely as a further means of explaining his
views congerning the establishment of the Committee. He ex-
pressed the belief, with which the group concurs, that before
any formal coordination of the order is undertaken, the Planning
Board and the NSC should decide upon the questions of formaliza-
tion and location following which actual clearance with the
Civil Service Commission and all other agencies concerned would
be accomplished through the usual clearance procedures of the
Bureau of the Budget.
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CONFIDENTIAL
The draft Executive order would provide for the following
functions:
a. "In order to insure the maximum consistency in the
interpretation and application of the policies govern-
the civilian employee security program in the Execu-
tive Branch and in the operations of the departments
and agencies under those policies, the Committee
shall advise the President, the National Security
Council and the heads of the departments and agencies
concerning any matters relating to the coordination
of the civilian employee security program in the
Executive Branch.
b. "The Committee shall cooperate with the Department of
Justice and the Civil Service Commission in the con-
duct of their responsibilities under the civilian
employee security program.
c. "The Committee shall serve as a coordinating point
for replies to the inquiries made of the Executive
Branch concerning the program."
The draft order does not provide for the amendment of
E.O. 10450. The group, however, is of the opinion that the
proposed assignment of the functions described above would
require careful consideration of the relationship between the
proposed order and Executive Order 10450. Conceivably, the
specific amendment of the responsibilities now assigned to the
Department of Justice and the Civil Service Commission in
Executive Order 10450 might be required.
The draft order intends that the concern of the Committee
be limited to civilian employees. The proposal intends further
that the Committee receive wide public notice, that it deal
with cases commanding an unusual amount of public attention,
and that it provide a single focusing point for all public re-
lations contacts including congressional inquiries. Since a
number of military cases present problems identical to those
with which the Committee will be concerned, the Planning Board
should consider whether the Committee can function effectively
within the restricted orbit of civilian employees only.
The draft order would establish the Committee in the
Executive Office of the President. In its present form the
draft order describes an interdepartmental committee. The
establishment of such a Committee in the Executive Office of
the President would be unique and of doubtful appropriateness
and possibly legality. The latter cannot be determined with
precision except through the normal process of clearance, in-
cluding legal clearance, of a matured proposed order.
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CONFIDENTIAL
These defects, however, are technical and need not fore-
close on the Planning Board's consideration of the substance
of the proposal. If it is authoritatively determined to be
desirable and appropriate for the functions to be lodged in the
Executive Office of the President, a suitable method of ac-
complishing it may be assumed by the Planning Board to be avail-
able. One possibility might require that the functions be
vested in an officer of one of the units of the Executive
Office of the President who could serve as chairman.
Other alternatives are available to meet the objectives of
formalization and public notice should it be determined that
these are desirable objectives. A Committee such as that pro-
posed might be established:
a. Within Justice Denartmpnt. This alternative would be
suitable to a determination that the functions pro-
posed are an extension of or consistent with the re-
sponsibilities of the Justice Department generally or
under E. O. 10450. This probably could be accomplished
(1) by action under E. O. 10450 by the Attorney General
with the cooperation of the agencies concerned, or
(2) by Executive order in further implementation of
Section 13 of Executive Order 10450.
b. Within_fiyil_auvice Compission. This alternative
would be suitable to a determination that the functions
proposed are an extension of or consistent with those
of the Civil Service Commission generally or under
E. 0. 10450. This probably could be accomplished
(1) by action under E. 0. 10450 by the Civil Service
Commission following designation by NSC of the agencies
to provide continuing advice and collaboration, or
(2) by Executive order in further implementation of
Section 14 of Executive Order 10450.
As an independent interdepartmental committee. This
alternative would be suitable to a determination that
the functions proposed are an extension of or con-
sistent with those of the departments and agencies
generally or under 2. 0. 10450. This could be
accomplished by Executive order, The amendment of
Executive Order 10450 conceivably might be required.
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
' FUNDING IMELILATIONa
The draft Executive order would provide that the Committee
be supplied such personnel, funds and administrative services
as may be required by the departments and agencies represented.
These departments and agencies would comprise the departments
and agencies of State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, AEC, CSC,
and ICA. This method of financing would be unique to the
present structure of the Executive Office of the President. If
it is determined that it is to be established as a unit of the
Executive Office of the President, funds could be made available
for it from White House sources.
Financing for all alternatives listed above can be pro-
vided without additional legislation as follows:
a. Within Justice from funds available to Justice.
b. Within CSC from funds available to CSC,
c. As an independent committee from funds contributed
by the members.
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fl DRAFT
EXECUTIVE ORDER
41,10 ....
CONFIDENTIAL
ESTABLISHING THE CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE SECURITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitu-
tion and Statutes of the United States, including Section 1753
of the Revised Statutes of the United States (5 U.S.C. 631),
and the Act of August 26, 1950, 64 Stat. 476 (5 U.S.C. 22-1
zas), and as President of the United States and in order to
coordinate, strengthen and improve the civilian employee
security program of the Executive branch it is hereby ordered
as follows:
1. There is established in the Executive Office of the
President a civilian Employee Security Advisory Com-
mittee consisting of the Secretary of State, the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense,
the Attorney General, the Chairman of the Atomic
Energy, the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission,
and the Director of the International Cooperation
Administration. The Chairman shall be appointed by
the President upon the nomination of the Attorney
General. Committee members may designate an immediate
personal assistant to serve as an alternate member of
the Committee. The Committee may enlarge its member-
ship on an ad hoc basis, as deemed necessary,
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2. In order to insure the maximum consistency in the
interpretation and application of the policies govern-
ing the civilian employee security program in the
Executive Branch and in the operations of the depart-
ments and agencies under those policies, the Committee
shall advise the President, the National Security
Council and the heads of the departments and agencies
concerning any matters relating to the coordination
of the civilian exployee security program in the
Executive Branch,
3, The Committee shall cooperate with the Department of
Justice and the Civil Service Commission in the con-
duct of their responsibilities under the civilian
employee security program, .
4. The Committee shall serve as a coordinating point for
replies to the inquiries made of the Executive Branch
concerning the program,
5. Such personnel, funds and administrative services as
may be required for the operation of the Committee
shall be supplied by the departments and agencies
represented on the Committee,
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