A bipartisan duo of Senate leaders reintroduced legislation on June 5 that aims to codify the right of Federal government employees to appeal the revocation or denial of a security clearance.
Introduced by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine., who hold respective leadership roles on the Senate Intelligence Committee Senate Appropriations Committee, the Integrity in Security Clearance Determinations Act was first introduced in 2019.
The senators are reintroducing the legislation to protect the integrity of the security clearance process – and to protect the process from being abused for political motives, according to a press release. The bill also comes as President Donald Trump has used security clearance revocations to target political opponents, including former President Joe Biden.
“Americans should be able to have confidence that the security clearance process is focused solely on protecting our nation’s most sensitive information,” said Sen. Warner in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation will make clear that this vital system cannot be weaponized for political retribution.”
The legislation specifically prohibits the executive branch from revoking security clearances based on political views or retaliation and similarly bans agencies from using security clearances to punish whistleblowers or to discriminate.
If clearances are revoked, Federal employees would have a legal right to appeal those decisions, and the government would be required to publish the results of appeals.
To conduct those appeals, each agency would establish an independent panel to hear and review appeals. The panels would be comprised of at least three employees – with two members not holding security-related roles – selected by the agency head.
Once security clearances are removed, the agency head must provide the covered person with a detailed written explanation, notify them of their right to appeal, and provide the covered person with copies of documents related to the revocation within 30 days if requested, according to legislation text.
“Americans should have the utmost confidence in the integrity of the security clearance process,” said Sen. Collins. “This bipartisan bill would make the current system fairer and more transparent by ensuring that decisions to grant, deny, or revoke clearances are based solely on codified guidelines.”