Evening star., 1948-09-05

and must be promulgated and put
into effect without further delay.
Failure to Give
Notice of Disloyalty
The procedure for notifying en-
ploylng agencies of the existence of
derogatory information concerning
an employe during the course of
investigation and loyal adjudication
is inadequate Prior to the recent
hearings held by this subcommit-
tee, the employing agency received
10 notice of any kind concerning a
suspected or dislcyal appointee
until final determination of his eligi-
bility or ineligibility This means
that there may be many new en-
plcyes in Government agencies to-
Cay on whom full field investiga-
lions have been or are being con-
Quoted and, because their e.ibility
has not been finally determined, the
agency head has had no notice of
the derogatory information concern
ing the employe and, therefore, has
had no opportunity to suspend or
remove the employe who might be
lr sensitive position. We know
that there are some instances of this
I type where eligibility determinations
have not as yet been made although
the program has been in effect for
over 10 months.
Under the system In effect prior
to August l3, l948, the appointee
remained on the job while the Civil
Service Commission checked the 10
sources of information designated by
Executive Order No 9835, a period
OF approximately 80 days; while the
Federal Bureau Of Investigation con-
Quoted full field investigation, con-
suming approximately 80 days; and
while the entire adjudicati ting process
was carried out in the regional
Loyalty Board. and. in the event of
appeal, in the Loyalty Review Board,
an additional undetermined period.
In the case of the appointee, the
| Civil Service Commission loses juris-
diction after the 18-month proba-
tional period. and it appears that
this was the only time limitation on
the agency heads ignorance of the
possible derogatory information.
Revised System Inadequate.
AS result of the recent hearings
before this subcommittee, the Loyalty
Review Board has sought to remedy
this situation by the issuance Of
Memorandum No. Z to the regional
Loyalty Boards and Memorandum
No. 16 to the various agencies and
departments. These memoranda are
dated August 13, 1948, and require
notice to the employing agency at
the completion of q full field in
Vestigation and prior to the inStitu-
! ton of the adjudication process
Admittedly this is a step in the right
direction but the subcommittee be-
| lieveS it is much too short q STEP
Even under the revised system, an
espionage agent within the govern
mental establishment may be per-
mitted to operate unchallenged for
at least l2O days before the loyalty
program permits his suspension or
removal.
The system under the appointee
program should be modified to cor
respond with the more satisfactory
procedure of the incumbent pro-
gram where, on the initiation of
full field investigation, copy OF
Form "a is Immediately forwarded
to the employing agency head with
an appropriate notation to the effect
that a full field investigation is
being initiated. This at least in
sures the employing agency head Of
| timely notice that one of his en-
ployes is possibly disloyal and per-
mits him to take the necessary Sc
curity measures.
Head Must Be Notified.
Even under the more timely in
cumbent system, the procedure is
still defective in that there is in
sufficient disclosure to the agency
head of the general nature Of the
derogatory information developed by
the loyalty check. The unsatisfac-
tory result of this failure to make
more complete disclosure to the
agency is that the agency head has
nothing to act upon except the bare
knowledge that there exists in the
Bureau files some derogatory infor-
nation concerning one of the agen-
cys employees. Assuming the en-
ployee to be in a sensitive spot, the
agency head is in the unenviable
position of either suspending the
employee. upon inadequate informa-
ton, or continuing the employee in
his job. with the necessarily un-
calculated risk to national security.
The subcommittee believes that a
timely disclosure of the derogatory
information developed concerning an
employe should and must be made |
to head Of the employing agency
as soon as possible. The subcom-
mitee believes that such disclosure
is a necessary precedent to intelli-
gent agency action and should be
made at least prior to, or at the
time Of the initiation of q full field
investigation.