Sponsors (23)
The bill tightens vetting and increases congressional and public transparency over security clearances to protect national security, but it does so by imposing external checks that constrain presidential staffing choices and risk delays, politicization, and inter-branch conflict.
Federal executive branch and national-security programs: reduces the risk that individuals without appropriate vetting gain access to classified information by adding FBI vetting/clearance gates for certain appointees and detailees.
Congress and taxpayers: creates quicker congressional awareness when security clearances are denied or revoked, improving legislative oversight and accountability over clearance outcomes.
Taxpayers and the public: requires the President to explain within 30 days any override of FBI security decisions, increasing transparency about exceptional security determinations.
Presidential appointees and detailees: limits the President's staffing flexibility by imposing an external clearance gate for political appointees and detailees.
White House operations and taxpayers: could politicize or delay executive operations if FBI clearance processes are slow or contested, reducing the timeliness of staffing and policy advice.
Executive branch and federal employees: may create friction between the executive branch and the FBI over separation of authorities, prompting legal or political disputes that consume resources and attention.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes the FBI Director the approver for security clearance/access for political appointees and SGEs in the EOP and requires same-day notice to the President and Congress of denials with a 30-day presidential explanation for any override.
Introduced February 26, 2025 by Donald Sternoff Beyer · Last progress February 26, 2025
Requires the FBI Director to be the approving official for security clearances or access to classified information for political appointees and special Government employees placed in the Executive Office of the President (EOP). If the FBI Director denies, suspends, or revokes clearance or access, the Director must notify the President and relevant Congressional committees the same day; the President must provide a written explanation to those committees within 30 days if the President nullifies, reverses, modifies, or does not recognize the Director's determination. The law also incorporates existing statutory definitions for “political appointee” and “special Government employee.”