You keep your clearance, but lose your access. Access is granted only on a need to know basis.
In effect, one’s clearance enters a state of dormancy and remains so until another position, public or private is gained, and the access may be reinstated on the basis of need to know.
Again, having a clearance does not alone grant access. Clearance plus need to know equals access.
Thank you so much for the explanation. Appreciated.
My cousin got cleared once. It seemed like it was pretty hard. They do a thorough background check. They check to make sure you lived where you said you did. They talk to friends. They talk to neighbors. They ask if you ever did drugs. I’m sure they test you too. I’m also sure they can reinvestigate you at any time. It’s kind of like a certificate that states this is a reliable person, but you still can’t access information without a need to know, and once you’re out that need becomes nil.