FAS

CIA Personnel Regulations Disclosed

04.11.07 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The Central Intelligence Agency has released three of its internal personnel regulations in redacted form as part of a defense against charges that it improperly dismissed a former undercover contract employee.

A 2002 regulation signed by then-DCI George Tenet established the CIA Personnel Evaluation Board (pdf), which is “the primary mechanism for reviewing employee suitability and security cases that may result in the imposition of serious discipline, termination of employment, or revocation of security clearances.”

The “circumstances under which Agency employment may be terminated” are described in another 2002 regulation (pdf).

The role of “contract employees” — which are not the same as “contractors” — is described in a third redacted CIA regulation (pdf).

The regulations were disclosed by CIA in response to a lawsuit filed by “Peter B.” (pdf), a covert contract employee who alleged that he was wrongly terminated and was subjected to unlawful retaliation by the CIA.

The CIA replied (pdf) that the CIA Director “has discretion to terminate a person employed by the CIA for any reason and the decision is not subject to review.”

The newly disclosed CIA personnel regulations were characterized in a declaration (pdf) by CIA information review officer Linda Dove.

publications
See all publications
Emerging Technology
day one project
Issue Brief
Winning the Next Phase of the Chip War

Familiar semiconductor policy approaches – export controls and subsidies – are inadequate alone to prevent reliance on Chinese-made legacy chips. Washington and its allies will instead have to turn  to the old-fashioned, disruptive tools of trade defense in the face of a challenge of this scale.  

02.06.25 | 0 min read
read more
Environment
Press release
Position on the Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act of 2025

The Wildfire Intelligence Center would bring together expertise at all levels of government to give our firefighters and first responders access to cutting-edge tools and the decision support they need to confront this growing crisis.

02.06.25 | 1 min read
read more
Clean Energy
Blog
Energy Dominance (Already) Starts at the DOE

DOE is already very well set up to pursue an energy dominance agenda for America. There’s simply no need to waste time conducting a large-scale agency reorganization.

02.05.25 | 7 min read
read more
Government Capacity
Press release
Federation of American Scientists and Environmental Policy Innovation Center Unveil Permitting Tech and Talent Policy Recommendations to Support Deployment of Crucial Energy, Environmental, and Infrastructure Projects

FAS today released permitting policy recommendations to improve talent and technology in the federal permitting process. These recommendations will address the sometimes years-long bottlenecks that prevent implementation of crucial projects, from energy to transportation.

02.05.25 | 4 min read
read more