H.R. 4137: Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act

This bill, known as the Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act, requires the Secretary of State to provide an annual report concerning decisions made about security clearances. Here are the key points of what the bill entails:

Annual Reporting Requirement

The Secretary of State must submit a report to both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations every year. This report will cover outcomes from security clearance adjudications that occur within the previous year.

Content of the Reports

The report must include:

• The number of individuals who received various types of unfavorable adjudications—such as denials, suspensions, or revocations of security clearances—from the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security.
• The number of individuals who appealed these decisions, categorized by whether the appeal was related to assignment restrictions or assignment reviews.
• The success rates of these appeals.
• A description of the criteria and considerations that determined whether a particular adjudicative outcome was warranted.

Data Disaggregation

In addition to the overall statistics, the data must be broken down by:

• Position held by the individual: This includes foreign service officers, civil service employees, and others.
• Demographic information: Ethnicity, national origin, and race, where available.
• Gender: To the extent this information is available.

Initial Report Scope

The first report under this requirement is expected to cover a different timeframe than the usual one-year reporting period. It will look at adjudications occurring from January 1, 2024, until the date of the report's submission.

Key Definitions

The bill defines several terms crucial for understanding its provisions:

• Continuous vetting: This refers to a process where individuals are continually reviewed for security clearance eligibility.
• Covered adjudicative outcome: Outcomes involving initial security clearance background investigations, periodic reinvestigations, or decisions made through continuous vetting that lead to unfavorable results.
• Periodic reinvestigation: Defined as the process of reevaluating an individual's security clearance status at set intervals.

Purpose

The primary aim of this legislation is to enhance transparency regarding security clearance processes and outcomes, potentially allowing for a better understanding of how such decisions are implemented and the impact of appeals.

Relevant Companies

None found