Should the White House Report to Congress on the Status of Employees With Security Clearances? (H.R. 538)

What is H.R. 538?

(Updated June 18, 2020)

This bill — known as the CLEARANCES Act — would require the White House to report regularly on the status of security clearance holders working in the Executive Office of the President in an effort to promote accountability and oversight of who has access to classified information. It would cover the president’s staff, and anyone who is detailed from a government agency, university, think tank, or the private sector to work at the White House or the Office. The first report would be due within three months of this bill’s enactment and subsequent reports due every three months thereafter.

The report would include:

• The name and position of any individual working in the White House or the Office who holds a security clearance, and for detainees the entity or agency they were detailed from.

• Whether the clearance is temporary or permanent and the level of the clearance, along with the date the background check investigation began and any interim reports or notifications from the investigation.

• The name and position of any covered individual who was granted a security clearance despite an unfavorable recommendation from the White House Security Office and when that decision occurred.

• The name and position of any individual who wasn’t contained in any above list whom the president has provided access to classified information, the date the information was provided, and the level of classification of the information.

• The name and position of any covered individual whose security clearance has been revoked or suspended and when that occurred, or who held an interim security clearance for more than one year and an explanation from the White House Counsel as to why it is in the national security interest of the U.S. to keep them in the position without a permanent clearance.

Under current law, the president can keep employees on staff with an interim security clearance indefinitely without notifying Congress.

The bill's full title is the Commonsense Legislation Ensuring Accountability by Reporting Access of Non-Cleared Employees to Secrets Act.

Argument in favor

The White House shouldn’t be able to provide interim security clearances to employees indefinitely without notifying Congress. This bill would bring more accountability and oversight to the security clearance process for those who work closely to president.

Argument opposed

The White House needs to operate as it sees fit, and Congress doesn’t have the authority to oversee the process used to grant security clearances to White House employees. This bill’s authors want to score political points more than they want transparency.

Impact

Employees of the White House and the Office of the President with permanent or temporary security clearances; and Congress.

Cost of H.R. 538

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), along with Reps. Linda Sánchez (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Ruben Gallego (D-CA), reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress as part of the Restoring the Public Trust Act of 2019. This specific part of that legislative package seeks to bring more accountability and oversight to the process of granting security clearances to White House employees:

“Trump and his administration have made a mockery of government ethics, demonstrating the weak spots in our current laws. He has normalized unethical behavior in a way that was once unthinkable, proving that we need stronger ethics laws. The damage that Trump has done to the public’s confidence in its government won’t be easy to fix but this bill ensures that those gaping holes in our anticorruption and ethics laws are addressed. In doing so, we will course correct our government to ensure it is working for the people, which is a key Democratic priority this Congress. The Restoring the Public Trust Act helps us do the critical work of rebuilding the public’s faith in government.”

When he and the same group of cosponsors originally introduced this bill in the 115th Congress, Rep. Lieu said:

“As we’ve seen, transparency hasn’t come so easy to the Trump White House. White House officials have repeatedly contradicted themselves on whether they allowed Rob Porter to have an interim security clearance despite concerns over allegations of domestic abuse. Aside from the moral failings, we’re looking at potentially dangerous breaches in our national security protocols. What’s worse is that, despite our oversight duties, Members of Congress have no mechanism to figure out who in the White House has access to classified information and whether they are doing so under an interim clearances. I’ve asked, time and again, why people like Jared Kushner have security clearances despite repeatedly failing to properly disclose information on clearance forms. By using interim security clearances, the White House is circumventing an essential process that ensures government officials handling classified information are not vulnerable to blackmail or manipulation. As Members of Congress, we have a duty to ensure that classified information is properly safeguarded.”

This legislation has the support of 18 Democratic cosponsors in the current session of Congress. Last Congress, it had 34 Democratic cosponsors in the House and didn't receive a committee vote.

Media:

• Original Cosponsoring Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) Press Release (116th Congress)
• Sponsoring Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) Press Release (115th Congress)
  
• Countable - Bill Package
• Washington Times