Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2025
← Q3 2025 · full-year 2025 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 95 industrial security-clearance cases in Q4 2025, granting 21% of them. That is 4 points lower than Q3 2025 (25% of 197). A year earlier, Q4 2024 recorded 22% of 178. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 50 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 299 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 3 days longer than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- October7 decided
- November28 decided
- December60 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)14%7 granted43 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)27%10 granted27 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)27%9 granted24 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J) †29%4 granted10 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †33%3 granted6 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †40%2 granted3 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †50%1 granted1 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †0%0 granted2 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 7 | 43 | 14% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 10 | 27 | 27% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 9 | 24 | 27% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 4 | 10 | 29% † |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 3 | 6 | 33% † |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 2 | 3 | 40% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 1 | 1 | 50% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 0 | 2 | 0% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
† fewer than 20 decided cases, too few to generalize. Cases often raise several concerns, so rows overlap.
Time from Statement of Reasons to decision
Cases decided in Q4 2025 took a median of 299 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 95 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 296 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing30% granted · 46 cases
- On the written record13% granted · 48 cases
Representation
- With an attorney33% granted · 15 cases
- Self-represented19% granted · 80 cases
An association in the decided record, not a measure of what representation causes: represented and self-represented cases can differ in many ways.
Population: decided hearing-level STANDARD_ISCR decisions dated 2025-10-01 through 2025-12-31; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q4 2025 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2025-q4). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.