IC Workforce & Organization — 2026-06-17

Pentagon Legal Opinion Voids DCSA Security Clearance Hearing Decisions and Transfers Review Authority to DOHA

BLUFDOHA will very likely assume full adjudicative authority over transferred clearance cases by end of 2026, but retroactive review of voided decisions creates an absorption burden that could stall thousands of pending cases.

ClearanceJobs reports that a May 11 legal opinion by Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser concluded that DCSA qualifies as an "investigating entity" under Executive Order 12968 because it conducts federal background investigations, which bars it from also running the personal appearance hearings required after clearance denials or revocations 1. Department of War General Counsel Earl Matthews subsequently issued a memorandum rescinding DCSA's hearing authority, suspending its personal appearance program, and declaring all prior decisions issued through the process void 1. DCSA must now refer all pending personal appearance cases to the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals 1. Under the memorandum, DOHA will review prior adverse decisions for due process violations and prior favorable decisions for national security impairment, with new hearings possible under either finding 1.

Analysis
The Matthews memorandum imposes a retroactive remediation burden with no modern precedent: DOHA must review prior adverse decisions for due process violations, examine prior favorable decisions for national security impairment, and absorb an ongoing caseload it was not staffed to carry. DOHA will very likely assume adjudicative authority over transferred clearance cases by end of 2026, as EO 12968 leaves DCSA no tenable path to retain hearing functions. Low analytic confidence reflects the single-source reporting posture. DOHA will likely issue binding adjudications on transferred cases within six months of the memorandum. Moderate confidence rests on DOHA's established adjudicative infrastructure and the absence of a competing legal mechanism.

1 sources

Pentagon Legal Opinion Ends DCSA Security Clearance Hearing Program - ClearanceJobs