McCarthy says Santos will be seated on committees

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16. Confirming IronLionZion

Here is an article about it -

When it comes to security clearances, rules for others don’t apply to Congress


By John M. Donnelly
Posted January 12, 2021 at 3:55pm

Lawmakers are privy to some of the country’s most sensitive information, from domestic terrorism threats to military operations overseas, regularly receiving briefings in secure rooms in the Capitol complex from federal and military officials with high-level clearances.

But in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, some are asking whether certain members of Congress, including Republican leaders of defense and intelligence panels, would meet even the minimum standards for a government official to hold a security clearance. “Being cleared requires allegiance to the U.S. Government and Constitution of the United States at a bare minimum,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and who fought with the Marine Corps in Iraq, said in a statement to CQ Roll Call.

Unlike officials at federal agencies, lawmakers do not have security clearances per se, experts said. Rather, members of Congress are by tradition deemed inherently trustworthy by dint of the offices they hold, although they are subject to punishment under the House ethics code for revealing classified information. The maximum penalty, which would require a two-thirds vote by the House, is expulsion.

Neither their fellow lawmakers nor any president could take that fundamental presumption of trustworthiness away from them. “If they remain Members, then they retain eligibility for access to classified information,” Steven Aftergood, a leading expert on government secrecy with the Federation of American Scientists, said in an email. “But if they engaged in constitutionally prohibited actions, then they should be expelled from Congress altogether.”

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https://rollcall.com/2021/01/12/when-it-comes-to-security-clearances-rules-for-others-dont-apply-to-congress/