Aside from my opinion that a clearance should end when you clean out your desk - even if retaining a clearance, I cannot comprehend HITH any of these people retain a need to know about anything that requires having one.
Maybe someone can 'splain it.
There are two issues here. In order to have access to classified material at a given level you need both a clearance and a "need to know."
Different clearance levels require increasingly thorough background checks. These become increasingly costly in both time and dollars. Clearing a new person to TS/SCI can cost $100K and take up to two years. Individuals undergo periodic "bring up" reexaminations.
At its essence, a clearance is a measure of an individual's loyalty to the United States and their ability and willingness to safeguard the information to which they are entrusted.
The second element required for access to classified material is a "need to know." This is job related. Just because a person has a TS clearance that doesn't mean that they are allowed to see anything TS. This is particularly true when dealing with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). I have been read on and off more compartments than I can remember. There are countless compartments that I never even knew the names of. This is by design.
Given the high cost in time and money, it is in the government's best interest NOT to terminate a clearance when a person leaves a job (unless they were fired for cause). Their "need to know" goes away immediately and no one should discuss classified material with them regardless of the reason.
People change jobs for many reasons from retirement to promotion to a contract ending. This is why clearances are generally kept active for for two years or until they go out of scope (bring up exam needed).
Hope this helps. I will answer additional questions if I can.
WWG1WGA
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I work for a company for which there are likely some prime jobs for those with a security clearance.
My opinion is just having a security clearance doesn’t automatically mean you have access to certain information. It means there are jobs which will require top secret clearance, and since you have a clearance you are eligible.
For instance at my company the day you leave the company the IT process totally removes your account so you can’t access anything. That is the person for whatever reason is no longer performing that job that requires clearance for our company, so his “need to know” is no longer valid.
No matter where he goes to work on his next job he still has his top security clearance but it doesn’t mean he has access to the specific information he worked on. I would assume Brennan does not have access to CIA databases... at least domestically (no idea on Five Eyes)