Five people are no longer employed in the White House, while additional staff members work remotely while their “suitability clearance” is pending, a senior White House official said. In many of the cases where staff members who were no longer employed were involved, additional safety factors were important, including for the use of hard drugs, the official said.
Staff members have been briefed on the decisions over the past month, two sources familiar with the situation said.
Although marijuana use is legal in many states, it is still illegal at the federal level, which can be an obstacle in the federal security clearance process.
The White House underlined on Friday that it had mitigated some restrictions in its security clearance policy to go softer with the use of individuals with a history of drug use.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted on Friday that the White House “worked with the security service to update policies to ensure that marijuana use does not automatically disqualify White House staff.”
“As a result, more people will serve who have not been on the same level of drug use in the past,” she added. “The bottom line is that of the hundreds of people hired, only five who started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy.”
In a statement to CNN, Psaki said: “Although we will not get into individual cases, in many cases there were additional factors at stake for the small number of individuals who were terminated.”
Staff in need of a White House security clearance must complete a detailed background check questionnaire, which includes questions about marijuana and other drugs. Applicants are asked to explain the type of drugs or controlled substances they have used and how often and recently they have been used.
Two sources said that during the presidential transition period, some suggested that marijuana use might not disqualify individuals from serving in the White House. One source said the marijuana policy was not disclosed to staff until they had completed their questionnaires.
CNN’s Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.