HR 4137 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act
To require the Secretary of State to report annually on adverse security clearance adjudications, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual report to Congress on adverse security clearance adjudications by the State Department's Diplomatic Security office. The report must include the number of individuals who received denials, suspensions, or revocations of security clearances, the number of appeals filed against such decisions, and the success rate of those appeals. The data must be disaggregated by position type (Foreign Service officer, civil service employee, or other), ethnicity, national origin, race, and gender to the extent such information is available. The report must also describe the considerations and criteria used by State Department personnel in making adverse clearance decisions. The first report must cover the period from January 1, 2024 through the date of submission, with subsequent reports covering each one-year period thereafter.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA)
1 cosponsor
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Ted Lieu’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NOT-EMPLOYED $255,097
- NULL $21,050
- COTCHETT, PITRE & MCCARTHY, LLP $13,200
- TRENDNET $13,200
- NETFLIX $13,200
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Ted Lieu → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 25, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. · house
- Jun 25, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 25, 2025
Mr. Lieu (for himself and Mr. Castro of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To require the Secretary of State to report annually on adverse security clearance adjudications, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act”.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF STATE ON CERTAIN ADVERSE SECURITY CLEARANCE ADJUDICATIONS.
(a) Report.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that contains, with respect to the 1-year period ending on the date of the submission of the report, the following:
(1) For each type of covered adjudicative outcome, the number of individuals who received such outcome from the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security.
(2) The number of individuals who submitted to the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security an appeal with respect to a covered adjudicative outcome, disaggregated by whether the appeal related to assignment restrictions or assignment reviews.
(3) The success rate of such appeals.
(4) A description of the considerations and criteria used by such employees to determine whether a covered adjudicative outcome is warranted.
(b) Disaggregation of Data.—The data specified in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a) shall also be disaggregated by the following:
(1) Position held by the individual, including by the following:
(A) Foreign Service officer.
(B) Civil service employee.
(C) Other position.
(2) Ethnicity, national origin, and race, to the extent such information is available.
(3) Gender, to the extent such information is available.
(c) Initial Report Scope.—Notwithstanding the 1-year period described in subsection (a), the first report submitted pursuant to the requirements of that section shall be with respect to the period beginning on January 1, 2024, and ending on the date of the submission of such first report.
(d) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Continuous vetting.—The term “continuous vetting” has the meaning given that term in section 6601 of the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020 (50 U.S.C. 3352).
(2) Covered adjudicative outcome.—The term “covered adjudicative outcome” means the following:
(A) With respect to an initial security clearance background investigation, an adjudication that was unfavorable and resulted in a denial, suspension, or revocation of a security clearance.
(B) With respect to a periodic reinvestigation, an adjudication that was unfavorable and resulted in a denial, suspension, or revocation of a security clearance.
(C) With respect to a program of continuous vetting, a denial, suspension, or revocation of a security clearance taken by an authorized adjudicative agency as a result of such continuous vetting.
(3) Periodic reinvestigation.—The term “periodic reinvestigation” has the meaning given that terms in section 3001 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 3341). <all>
Comments