Depending on how strenuous the clearing agency is, a lot of people are knocked out for seemingly banal reasons. I work with people who have to have clearances

Depending on how strenuous the clearing agency is, a lot of people are knocked out for seemingly banal reasons. I work with people who have to have clearances for various projects and people have been knocked off of those teams for: - Being a dual citizen (and, far worse, holding a passport from the other country) even if they were born citizens of the US and the other country - Having traveled to several countries, like China or Russia, for reasons other than a short tourism stay - Being married to a non-US-citizen, even a permanent resident - Owing a lot of money on student loans - Parents being born in or citizens of the "wrong" country - Psychiatric or psychology counseling for certain conditions - A history of regular gambling From what I can tell, the investigators want someone who was born in the US to parents whose ancestry can both be traced to the Mayflower and who does nothing except stay at home and read National Geographic while sitting by the fire next to an equally-suitable spouse.