At the FBI, a history of hiring prostitutes or stealing from employer may no longer be a barrier to being hired
Updated on: August 28, 2026 / 5:27 PM EDT / CBS News
TL;DR
- The FBI has relaxed past policies that automatically disqualified applicants for admitting to hiring sex workers, stealing from employers, or engaging in bestiality.
- New guidelines allow consideration for hiring sex workers if it occurred less than three times and more than 10 years ago, or in jurisdictions where it's legal.
- Applicants who stole from an employer may still be hired if the incident happened more than three years ago.
- Past acts of bestiality or animal cruelty are no longer automatic disqualifiers if they occurred before the age of 18.
- These changes are attributed to difficulties in recruitment and retaining employees, with the FBI having lost scores of employees since the start of the Trump administration.
- Critics, including former FBI agents, express concern that lowering standards could compromise the integrity of the bureau and its agents, potentially making them vulnerable to blackmail.
- An FBI spokesperson confirmed changes but stated they are limited to narrow circumstances, such as past sexual abuse, and denied lowering overall standards.