NEWS / White House directs FBI to stop conducting background checks for senior staff

The Presidential Administration of United States President Donald Trump has directed the FBI to stop conducting background checks on dozens of top staffers. Instead, this due diligence will now be within the purview of the Pentagon, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by ABC.

The move was reportedly triggered by the fact that some White House officials deemed the FBI background check interviewing process to be too intrusive. Standard FBI procedures includes extensive interviews, as well as a review of financial records, foreign contacts, past employment, and any possible security concerns.

The White House then decided to transfer the background investigation process to the Department of Defense, subordinate to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"If any of this is true, and if you apply it to whatever has been historically in the remit of the FBI, then it would be breaking that historic, long-standing precedent, and highly unusual," a former FBI official was quoted by ABC News as stating. "It would be highly unusual if that was taken away from the FBI now, for whatever reason, and given over to the DOD or another agency."

At the same time, newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel stated that he had “full confidence” the Department of Defense would be able to address any needs in the clearance process.

The FBI has historically carried out investigations for presidential appointees while the Pentagon’s Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) was responsible for carrying out investigations for the bulk of federal employees.