MAR 0 2 2016

MEMORANDUM TO HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Guidance on Executive Branch-Wide Requirements for Issuing Personal Identity

Verification (PIV) Credentials and Suspension Mechanism

In the fall of 2013, at the direction of the President, the U.S. Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) undertook a 120 day assessment of, and recommended improvements to, the

processes governing the determination of suitability or fitness; eligibility for access to classified

information or assignment to a national security sensitive position; and eligibility for logical or

physical access to agency systems and facilities. These processes apply to Federal employees and 

employees of government contractors performing work on behalf of Federal agencies.

The resulting report, issued in February 2014, entitled Suitability and Security Process

Review Report to the President (the 120-Day Report) found that existing basic credentialing

standards for evaluating whether an individual should be issued a Federal credential did not 

adequately address the full panoply of risks to people, property, and information. The 120-Day

Report recommended that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) mandate a uniform set

of criteria for issuing PIV credentials to all employees and contractors, which should include the 

optional supplemental credentialing standards documented in the July 31, 2008, OPM

Memorandum, entitled Final Credentialing Standards for Issuing Personal Identity Verification

Cards under HSPD-12 (the 2008 Credentialing Memo). The 120-Day Report also found that there

were no standard processes used by agencies for suspending the PIV credential of a Federal

employee or employee of a government contractor performing work on behalf of a Federal agency. 

Thus, the 120-Day Report recommended that OPM "Revise the Final Credentialing Standards to

establish a suspension mechanism" ... "when an issue concerning character or conduct emerges after

the credential has been issued." The President accepted both of these 120-Day Report

recommendations, and they were incorporated into the Administration's Insider Threat and Security

Cross-Agency Priority Goal.

Accordingly, effective immediately, all Executive departments and agencies will apply both 

the basic and supplemental credentialing standards specified in the 2008 Credentialing Memo to

determine initial eligibility for a PIV credential of all personnel who require a PIV, but who are not 

otherwise subject to a suitability determination or a determination of eligibility for access to

classified information or assignment to a sensitive national security position . This includes both

Federal employees and employees of government contractors who are performing work on behalf of

a Federal agency as well as agency unique or specific categories of individuals such as guest

researchers, volunteers, or intermittent or seasonal employees unless they are short-term (i.e., less
than 6 months) employees per OMB Memorandum M-05-24 of August 5, 2005. The remaining

provisions of the 2008 Credentialing Memo are unchanged, with one addition to the provision that

states, "If an individual who otherwise meets these standards is found: (1) unsuitable for the 

competitive civil service under 5 CFR part 731, (2) ineligible for access to classified information 

under E.0. 12968, or (3) disqualified from appointment in the excepted service or from working on a 

contract, the unfavorable decision is a sufficient basis for non-issuance or revocation of a PIV

[credential]." To the types of outcomes in this provision we add a fourth-a determination that the

individual is ineligible to hold a national security sensitive position-which covers those designated

national security sensitive positions where the individual could bring about a material adverse

impact to national security, even when he or she does not require access to classified information in

the position.

Not later than 60 days from the date of this memorandum, with the advice and assistance of 

the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense,

and the Administrator of the U .S. General Services Administration, the Director of OPM will

develop and issue interim guidance on the criteria for issuing credentials and procedures for

immediate suspension of personal identity verification credentials, when appropriate, when there is a 

credible concern that the credential holder poses an unacceptable risk, pending any necessary

investigation and resolution of the concern.

Senior Advisor to the Director for Management

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Chair, Performance Accountability Council

Acting Director

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

SuitabilityExecutiveAgent

Director of National Intelligence

Security Executive Agent
Distribution:

Secretary of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture

Secretary of Commerce, Department of Commerce

Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense

Secretary of Education, Department of Education 

Secretary of Energy, Department of Energy

Secretary of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services

Secretary of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development 

Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior

Attorney General, Department of Justice

Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor

Secretary of State, Department of State

Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation

Secretary of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury

Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs

Director, Central Intelligence Agency

Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

Director, Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Department of Energy

Under Secretary, Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State

Assistant Secretary, Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Treasury

Chief of Intelligence/Senior Officer (SOIC), Drug Enforcement Administration

Executive Assistant Director, Intelligence Branch, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Director, National Reconnaissance Office 

Director, National Security Agency

Deputy Chief of Staff -G2, Headquarters, United States Army

Director of Naval Intelligence, Unites States Navy

Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, United States Air Force

Director of Intelligence, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps

Assistant Commandant for Intelligence and Criminal Investigations, United States Coast Guard

Director, United States Secret Service

Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, Department of Defense

Chairman,Joint Chiefs of Staff

Secretary of the Air Force, United States Air Force

Secretary of the Army, United States Army

Secretary of the Navy, United States Navy

Commandant of the Marine Corps, United States Marine Corps 

Chief, National Guard Bureau

Director, Defense Information Systems Agency

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

Director, Missile Defense Agency

Director, Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Inspector General, Department of Defense

Director, Defense Security Service

Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Activity
Distribution (cont.)

Director, Defense Contract Audit Agency

Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Services

Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Director, Broadcasting Board of Governors

Administrator, Drug Enforcement Agency

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Administrator, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Chairman, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve System

Chairman, Federal Communications Commission

Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission

Chairman, Federal Trade Commission

Administrator, General Services Administration

Director, Information Security Oversight Office 

Chairman, International Trade Commission

Director, Office of Management and Budget

Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration

Director, National Science Foundation

Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Director, Office of Government Ethics

Director, United States Peace Corps

Director, Office of Personnel Management

Chief Postal Inspector, United States Postal Inspection Service

Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Director, Selective ServiceSystem

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Commissioner, Social Security Administration

Administrator, United States Agency for International Development

Commissioner, United States Customs and Border Protection 

United States Trade Representative

Director, White House Office of the National Drug Control Policy

Office of Board of Governors, United States Postal Service