Five people are no longer employed in the White House, while additional employees are working remotely while their “suitability release” is pending, said a senior White House official. In many of the cases involving employees who are no longer employed, additional safety factors were at stake, including the use of some hard drugs, the official said.
Officials were informed of the decisions over the past month, said two sources familiar with the situation.
Although marijuana use is legal in many states, it is still illegal at the federal level, which can represent an obstacle in the federal security clearance process.
The White House pointed out on Friday that it loosened some restrictions on its security clearance policy to be more lenient about the employment of individuals with a history of drug use.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted on Friday that the White House “worked with the security service to update policies to ensure that previous marijuana use did not automatically disqualify employees from serving in the White House. ”
“As a result, more people will serve that they would not have had in the past with the same level of recent drug use,” she added. “The bottom line is this: of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy.”
In a statement to CNN, Psaki said, “Although we do not go into individual cases, there were additional factors at play in many cases for the small number of individuals who were fired.”
Employees who need security clearance at the White House are required to complete a detailed background check questionnaire, which includes questions about marijuana and other drugs. Applicants are asked to detail the type of drugs or controlled substances they have used and how frequent and recent their use has been.
Two sources said it was suggested to some during the presidential transition period that past marijuana use may not disqualify individuals from serving in the White House. A source said the marijuana policy was not made clear to employees before filling out their questionnaires.
CNN’s Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.