CLEARANCES Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 538 To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a quarterly report on security clearances for individuals working in the White House or the Executive Office of the President, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 14, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COHEN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. WATSON COLE- MAN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. RYAN, Mr. BEYER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a quarterly report on security clearances for individuals working in the White House or the Executive Office of the Presi- dent, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commonsense Legisla- 4 tion Ensuring Accountability by Reporting Access of Non- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:56 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.IH H538 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 538 IH Cleared Employees to Secrets Act’’ or the ‘‘CLEAR- 1 ANCES Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. REPORT ON SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR INDIVID- 3 UALS WORKING IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND 4 EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart I of part III of title 5, 6 United States Code, is amended by adding after section 7 10106 the following: 8 ‘‘CHAPTER 102—SECURITY CLEARANCES 9 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘10201. Report on individuals working in the White House and Executive Of- fice of the President. ‘‘§ 10201. Report on individuals working in the White 10 House and Executive Office of the Presi- 11 dent 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months after 13 the date of enactment of this section and every 3 months 14 thereafter, the President shall submit a report to the ap- 15 propriate congressional committees on security clearance 16 information on any individual working in the White House 17 or the Executive Office of the President, including— 18 ‘‘(1) the President’s staff or any other indi- 19 vidual in the White House or Office whose function 20 is to advise or assist the President; and 21 ‘‘(2) any individual who is detailed from the 22 Government, a university, a think tank, or the pri- 23 vate sector to the White House or the Office. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:56 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.IH H538 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 538 IH ‘‘(b) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—A report submitted 1 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 2 ‘‘(1) The name and position of any individual 3 working in the White House or the Office and who 4 holds a security clearance. 5 ‘‘(2) With respect to any detailee, the entity or 6 agency from which the individual was detailed. 7 ‘‘(3) With respect to any clearance listed pursu- 8 ant to paragraph (1)— 9 ‘‘(A) whether the clearance is temporary or 10 permanent and level of the clearance; 11 ‘‘(B) the date the background investigation 12 was initiated and the date of adjudication (if 13 any); and 14 ‘‘(C) the date of any interim reports or no- 15 tifications from the investigating agency. 16 ‘‘(4) The name and position of any individual 17 working in the White House or the Office who was 18 granted a security clearance by the President or 19 other authorizing personnel despite an unfavorable 20 recommendation from the White House Security Of- 21 fice or an agency, and the date the decision was 22 made to grant the clearance. 23 ‘‘(5) The name and position of any individual 24 not contained in any list above whom the President 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:56 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.IH H538 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 538 IH has provided access to classified information, the 1 date the information was so provided, and the level 2 of classification of the information. 3 ‘‘(6) The name and position of any individual 4 working in the White House or Office— 5 ‘‘(A) whose security clearance has been re- 6 voked or suspended and the date of such rev- 7 ocation or suspension; or 8 ‘‘(B) who held an interim security clear- 9 ance for a period longer than one year, and a 10 justification from the White House Counsel as 11 to why it is in the national security interest of 12 the United States to keep the employee in the 13 position without a permanent security clear- 14 ance. 15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate congressional com- 17 mittees’ means— 18 ‘‘(A) the Permanent Select Committee on 19 Intelligence and the Committees on Oversight 20 and Reform and the Judiciary of the House of 21 Representatives; and 22 ‘‘(B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 23 and the Committees on Homeland Security and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:56 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.IH H538 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 538 IH Governmental Affairs and the Judiciary of the 1 Senate; and 2 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Office’ means the Executive Of- 3 fice of the President.’’. 4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 5 for such title is amended by adding after the item relating 6 to chapter 101 the following: 7 ‘‘102. Security Clearances ..............................................................10201’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:56 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H538.IH H538 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS