Perspective: Trump can give anyone he wants a security clearance — but Congress can ask why
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, speaking in December. By David Priess and David Priess Bio Follow Mark S. Zaid Mark S. Zaid Bio Follow March 2 at 3:24 PM President Trump directed his chief of staff in 2017 to award Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance, overruling career officials who deemed the senior adviser and presidential son-in-law unworthy of eligibility access to that level of classified information, both the New York Times and The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Normally, presidents delegate this authority to subordinates in the executive branch. That’s just good government: After all, thousands of security clearance adjudicative decisions occur every year, and the president has more important issues to focus on. Plus, the process works best when it remains apolitical, run by an investigatory bureaucracy rather than an elected leader.
Ordering the military to unleash the nation’s entire nuclear arsenal on Iceland because the president alone sees Björk as a national security threat, for instance, would fall within his lawful authority. It would also misuse that authority.Where does the granting of a top-secret clearance to Kushner fall on the scale of appropriate use of the president’s power? It’s hard to say, since the investigation into Kushner’s full background is, understandably, protected.
But now, there are numerous legitimate questions for Congress to pursue.
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