November 19, 2024 (Washington, D.C.) – Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) today introduced the Security Clearance Review Act to reform the process by which security clearances are approved for political appointees in the Executive Office of the President (EOP), amid reports that President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors intend to bypass traditional background checks to grant security clearances to political appointees. The bill would codify the FBI’s role in conducting background check investigations for EOP employees, and require congressional notifications in cases where the President overrules the FBI on granting such employees access to classified information.
“During his first presidency, Donald Trump secretly gave favored staffers and family members access to our most sensitive classified information despite serious objections raised by career staff and his own Chief of Staff. Early signs suggest he will be even more brazen in subverting the integrity of the security clearance process in his second term,” said Rep. Beyer. “Congress must not allow corruption to threaten our national security. The Security Clearance Review Act would prevent untrustworthy people with major security concerns from secretly being given access to our most sensitive intelligence ever again, adding crucial Congressional oversight to the process.”
“Individuals advising the President must be trustworthy public servants,” said Rep. Lieu. “In his first term in the White House, President Donald Trump appointed members of his own family to senior staff positions over the objections of then-Chief of Staff John Kelly. Not only is this practice an abuse of the security clearance process that many government employees are subject to, it poses serious risks to our nation’s safety and security. The Security Clearance Review Act would ensure that appointees in the Executive Office of the President are properly vetted and prevent untrustworthy individuals from gaining access to sensitive intelligence information.”
The Security Clearance Review Act would require the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to make a written recommendation to the President that an individual flagged by the White House security office be denied final approval to receive a security clearance. Such a recommendation would be accompanied by notifications to the Chair and Ranking Member of House and Senate Intelligence, Oversight, and Judiciary Committees. In compliance with Article II of the Constitution, the President would have the ability to overrule such a recommendation and grant approval to persons so flagged, but the legislation would require that such a decision be justified to Congress in writing.
Original cosponsors of the Security Clearance Review Act include Reps. Andre Carson (D-IN), Sean Casten (D-IL), Lou Correa (D-CA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Andrea Salinas (D-OR), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Dina Titus (D-NV), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Norma Torres (D-CA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
Full text of the Security Clearance Review Act is available here.
Reps. Beyer and Lieu were the first Members of Congress to raise questions in early 2017 about discrepancies in the security clearance paperwork filed by Jared Kushner, and later by Ivanka Trump. A whistleblower ultimately revealed they had been secretly approved by President Trump over the objections of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, following serious issues raised by career staff in the office responsible for vetting new employees.
