November 19, 2024 (Washington, DC) – Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) today introduced the Security Clearance Review Act to reform the process by which security clearances security are approved for political appointees to the Executive Branch. Office of the President (EOP), in the middle of reports that President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers 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 of EOP employees and require notifications to Congress in cases where the President revokes the FBI’s authorization to grant such employees the access to classified information.

“During his first presidency, Donald Trump secretly gave our privileged employees and their 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 undermining the integrity of the security clearance process during his second term,” said Representative Beyer. “Congress must not allow corruption to threaten our national security. The Security Clearance Review Act would again prevent untrustworthy individuals with major security concerns from secretly gaining access to our most sensitive intelligence, adding crucial congressional oversight to the process.

“People who advise the president must be trusted public servants,” said Location Representative. “During his first term in the White House, President Donald Trump appointed members of his own family to senior positions over the objections of then-Chief of Staff John Kelly. Not only does this practice constitute an abuse of the security clearance process that many government employees undergo, it poses serious risks to the safety and security of our country. The Security Clearance Review Act would ensure that appointees to the Executive Office of the President are properly vetted and prevent unreliable individuals from accessing 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 reported 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 Chairman and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence, Oversight, and Judiciary Committees. Under Article II of the Constitution, the President would have the option to rescind such a recommendation and grant his approval to those so reported, but the legislation would require that such a decision be justified in writing to Congress.

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).

The full text of the Security Clearance Review Act is available here.

Representatives Beyer and Lieu were the first members of Congress to raise questions in early 2017 regarding discrepancies in security clearance documents filed by Jared KushnerAnd later by Ivanka Trump. A whistleblower finally revealed that they had been secretly approved by President Trump despite objections of the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, following serious problems raised by office career staff responsible for selecting new employees.