Four Commerce Department political appointees working on interim security clearances were booted Tuesday because of problems in their background checks, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The department determined the four people — including Fred Volcansek, who worked for the agency for nearly a year and served for several months as a senior adviser to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross — should not be given access to classified information, the Post reported, citing unnamed sources.
Volcansek has worked as executive director of SelectUSA, a program that promotes foreign investment in the United States, since last April, the Post reported.
The Commerce Department made the decision to boot the appointees, the Post reported.
The departures comes as the White House has faced scrutiny about dozens of staffers — including senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law — who lacked permanent security clearances. Kushner's top-secret interim clearance was downgraded last Friday.
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