# Plain Language Summary of the RISC Act

This bill creates a new rule requiring the White House to notify Congress whenever the President gives a security clearance to a family member or business associate against the recommendation of the FBI or other security agencies. Security clearances are the official approval that allows people to access classified government secrets. Normally, trained security professionals review someone's background and make a recommendation about whether they should get this access. This bill says that if the President overrides those professionals and approves the clearance anyway for someone related to him or financially connected to him, Congress must be told about it within five days.

The bill specifically targets two groups of people: relatives of the President (including spouses, children, and other close family members) and anyone who has a business contract with the President or is negotiating one. The notification goes to key congressional leaders who oversee intelligence and national security matters. If Congress finds out that a clearance was granted this way, the bill also requires that clearance to be revoked immediately, and the person would have to go through the entire background investigation and approval process again from scratch.

The bill applies retroactively, meaning if this happened in the past before the law was enacted, Congress still needs to be notified within five days of the law taking effect. Essentially, this is a transparency measure designed to prevent the President from quietly giving security clearances to family members or business associates when professional security reviewers have recommended against it. It puts a spotlight on these decisions and forces them to be reviewed again through normal channels.

RISC Act

Espaillat, Adriano

Responsibility and Integrity in Security Clearance Act or the RISC Act This bill revokes the security clearance of a family member or financial associate of the President that was granted contrary to the determination or recommendation of an agency, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A subsequent background investigation and agency adjudication is required before such an individual may be granted a security clearance. In addition, the White House Chief of Staff must notify Congress if the President or any other individual grants a security clearance to a family member or financial associate of the President contrary to the determination or recommendation of an agency. The notification must be made in writing no later than five days after the decision to grant the clearance.