Summary

Restricts hiring, assignments, and classified-access for political appointees and special Government employees (SGEs) in the Executive Office of the President by requiring that their employment be clearly consistent with national security and that any security-clearance or classified-access determination be made by the Director of the FBI. If the FBI Director denies, suspends, or revokes clearance or access, the Director must notify the President and the appropriate congressional committees the same day; if the President overrides or does not recognize the Director’s determination, the President must send a written explanation to those committees within 30 days. The bill defines “political appointee” and “special Government employee” by reference to existing federal statutes and adds these rules as a new subsection to the federal statute governing national security personnel suitability and access.

• Requires that employment of political appointees and SGEs in the EOP be clearly consistent with national security.
• Makes the FBI Director the decisionmaker for security clearance and classified-access determinations for those EOP political appointees and SGEs.
• Obligates the FBI Director to notify the President and appropriate congressional committees the same day a clearance/access is denied, suspended, or revoked.
• Requires the President to provide a written explanation to appropriate congressional committees within 30 days if the President overrides or fails to recognize the FBI Director’s determination.
• Defines key terms by reference to existing federal statutes (Presidential Transitions Improvements Act and 18 U.S.C. § 202).
• Applies only to the Executive Office of the President and targeted categories of personnel, not to the wider federal workforce.
• Does not appropriate funds or create new programs; it sets procedural and reporting requirements.
• Increases formal congressional notification and written accountability for presidential overrides of clearance decisions.