Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act

This bill, the Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act, would require the Secretary of State to produce an annual public-facing-like report for Congress detailing adverse security clearance adjudications managed by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security office. The report would cover the prior year and include counts of unfavorable outcomes, how many appeals were filed (including whether they related to assignment restrictions or assignment reviews), the success rate of those appeals, and the criteria used by adjudicators to determine whether an unfavorable outcome was warranted. The data would be disaggregated by position type, and to the extent available, by ethnicity/national origin/race and gender. The first report would cover January 1, 2024, through the date of the first submission, with subsequent reports due within 90 days after enactment and every year thereafter. The bill defines key terms (such as “continuous vetting” and “covered adjudicative outcomes”) and ties the reporting to three kinds of unfavorable security-adjudication actions: initial background investigations, periodic reinvestigations, and actions arising from continuous vetting. In short, the bill aims to increase transparency and accountability around why individuals are denied or suspended from holding security clearances, how those decisions are appealed, and what factors influence adjudicators’ decisions, while also providing demographic context where available.