Exclusive-Fired US government workers with top security clearances were not given exit briefings, sources say

By Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Landay

Some U.S. government workers with top security clearances fired in mass layoffs overseen by Elon Musk in recent weeks were not given standard exit briefings and advised on what to do if approached by foreign adversaries, four sources told Reuters.

The lack of so-called "read outs" for workers with clearances dismissed by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency in February could raise security risks as they dealt with secret information on everything from managing nuclear weapons to protecting the power grid from influence by adversaries and ensuring the safety of U.S international development staffers, former security officials said.

Dismissed employees with top-secret clearances are normally given a final security briefing reminding them of non-disclosure agreements they signed when they got the clearance. They would also sign forms acknowledging that disclosing any kind of classified information is illegal and turn in their laptops, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two sources with top security clearances dismissed by DOGE, one at the Department of Energy and one former senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development, told Reuters they were not debriefed.

Another worker still at the DOE, said several of the 28 workers fired on Feb. 14 at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation's nuclear arsenal, had clearances and were not debriefed. The fourth source is a person familiar with the situation at USAID.

Both DOE sources said the laptops of fired workers had been cut off from access to department data but that they were not immediately required to hand those in.

There were more than 1.25 million U.S. government workers, contractors and others who held top-secret clearances as of October 2019, according to the most recent unclassified report published on the issue by the U.S. Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC).

It is not known how many were fired by DOGE without being given the final security debriefing.

A DOE spokesperson said the department "is taking the appropriate steps to ensure all recently dismissed Energy employees are reminded of their obligations to the United States as defined by federal law."

The State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kevin Carroll, a former undercover CIA officer who is now a lawyer at Fluet, said the failure to conduct final briefings for U.S. officials holding top-secret clearances was a "terrible counterintelligence risk."

"When you get read off the program, they remind you that you agreed to keep information confidential and it would violate the Espionage Act if you don't," he said.

Officials at the briefing also instruct outgoing personnel what to do if approached by a foreign intelligence service and offered money to provide classified material.

The U.S. government is on heightened alert about foreign adversaries attempting to steal U.S. data and technology and recruit Americans as spies.

"Foreign spies routinely pose as commercial head-hunters on professional networking sites to target individuals for recruitment or information gathering purposes," NCSC posted on X on Feb. 25.

U.S. law enforcement and counterintelligence officials have long said Chinese espionage agencies are using social media accounts to try to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets.

'SHORTCUTS'

Mark Zaid, an attorney who specializes in national security law, said that "any deviation" from established security practices can create concerns.

"The shortcuts and quick brash actions DOGE, and particularly its young, inexperienced non-security personnel are taking are creating serious and unnecessary security risks,” said Zaid.

None of the employees with security clearances for nuclear secrets were properly debriefed, the current DOE source said. Those employees could be targeted by foreign adversaries for nuclear espionage, and could be vulnerable to approaches since they have lost their source of income, the source said.

Elon Musk and SpaceX face at least three federal reviews over whether they have complied with federal reporting rules aimed at protecting national security, the New York Times reported in December.

In 2019, the Pentagon reviewed Musk's security clearance after the billionaire smoked marijuana on comedian Joe Rogan's live show. Such reviews ordinarily occur once instances of a potential infraction come to light, Pentagon officials have said. Musk was able to apply for his security clearance to be reinstated, sources said. Musk said on X that he had agreed to do random drug testing for three years.

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fired USAID specialist with top-secret clearance to work on programs designed to avert conflicts and bolster stability in Southeast Asia and the Middle East said they were terminated without being given the standard exit security briefing or forms to sign.

The specialist started at USAID some eight years ago as a contractor before being hired full-time in a civil service position in the Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Stabilization.

The worker, terminated on Feb. 24, needed clearance to access classified intelligence reports that helped make "informed strategic decisions" on poverty reduction and humanitarian programs for people who might otherwise be driven to extremism.