Donald Trump Orders Security Clearances to Be Given to Whomever He Wants
January 21, 2025
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In one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump has chosen to grant immediate Top Secret security clearances to several individuals, intended to amend a “backlog” created under the Biden administration.
According to the announcement, Trump has ordered his White House Counsel, the president’s top legal adviser, to craft a list of personnel who will be “immediately granted” access to Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) for a period of six months. These individuals are also set to receive “access to the facilities and technology necessary to perform the duties of the office to which they have been hired.”
The announcement did not list the individuals in question, and Newsweek has contacted the White House to inquire who may be granted clearance under this order.
Why It Matters
The decision, one of the lesser noticed of Trump’s Day One actions, would in effect provide interim top security clearances for anyone the President chooses.
Top Secret and SCI clearance grants individuals access to information which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to cause “exceptionally grave damage to the national security,” according to the Department of Defense Manual.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP Photo
Eligibility is reserved for those on a need-to-know basis, and who have demonstrated compliance with the 13 National Security Adjudicative Guidelines, which include allegiance to the U.S. as well as responsible personal, sexual, and financial conduct.
The expedited approval of such clearances will also bypass the standard timeline, which is typically 6–8 months for a new Top Secret clearance and 8–15 months for SCI clearance.
What To Know
According to the Monday announcement, Trump’s decision will help to clear “a backlog created by the Biden Administration in the processing of security clearances of individuals hired to work in the Executive Office of the President.”
In addition to the list of individuals set to be granted immediate clearance, White House Counsel David Warrington will also retain the authority to “supplement this list as necessary,” as well as to revoke the clearance of any of these individuals.
What People Are Saying
“The Executive Office of the President requires qualified and trusted personnel to execute its mandate on behalf of the American people,” President Donald Trump said in Monday’s memorandum to the White House Counsel. “There is a backlog created by the Biden Administration in the processing of security clearances of individuals hired to work in the Executive Office of the President.”
“It’s unclear if this would include foreign nationals,” One prominent pro-Democrat X account, Protect Kamala Harris, wrote. “Trump could in theory could give a top U.S. security clearance to Vladimir Putin.”
What Happens Next?
Before the announcement regarding new clearances, President Trump also used an executive order to revoke “any active or current security clearances” held by 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter in 2020 casting doubt on the provenance of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
“Signatories of the letter falsely suggested that the news story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign,” the Executive Order reads.
Included in the list are former National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper Jr., former Central Intelligence Agency Directors Michael Hayden and John Brennan, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
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