Grassley and Blumenthal Seek Answers About White House, Congressional Security Clearance Process

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, wrote White House Counsel Don McGahn and FBI Director Christopher Wray today seeking additional information about the process for allowing government employees access to sensitive or classified information. The Senators’ letter follows reports that as many as 100 people may be currently working at the White House on interim security clearances. Grassley and Blumenthal requested information on how interim security clearances were handled for White House and congressional employees during the current and previous administrations.

“Recent reports reveal that officials at the highest levels of government may be operating with only interim security clearances, either because of delays in the clearance-granting process or because information revealed during that process is not acted on in a timely and appropriate fashion,” Grassley and Blumenthal wrote. “If true, this raises significant concerns that ineligible individuals, who hold positions of public trust, may have access to sensitive or classified information. It is therefore important to understand, holistically, how the clearance process works across branches of government, and whether and to what extent the recent reporting on interim clearances details a common problem or one unique to this administration.”

The full text of today’s letter is available here.