Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2019
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the select committeeA committee created for a specific purpose or period, usually to investigate something, rather than to hold permanent jurisdiction over a subject.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Intelligence.
Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2019
This bill directs various agencies to report on, and devise plans to improve, systems for handling security clearances and background checks.
The Security, Suitability, and Credentialing Performance Accountability Council shall provide Congress with a plan to reduce the background investigation backlog and to consolidate security clearance processes to improve efficiency.
The Director of National Intelligence, or another individual selected by the President, shall serve as the Security Executive Agent for all U.S. departments and agencies. The agent shall establish a policy and implementation plan for improving security clearance procedures.
The agent shall report to Congress on (1) ways to improve or simplify investigation procedures; (2) the feasibility of the clearance in person concept, which permits an individual to maintain access to classified information for up to three years after leaving a cleared position; and (3) protections for the confidentiality of whistleblower-related communications in continuous vetting programs.
Federal departments and agencies shall report annually to the agent certain information related to reciprocal recognition of security clearances when an individual moves between positions within the department or agency, and the agent shall summarize and report such information to Congress.
The bill imposes various targets for reducing the pendency of secret and top secret level clearance determinations. It also requires reports to Congress on various topics, such as the feasibility of having no more than three tiers of trust and security clearance positions.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 31, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on January 31, 2019: Read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced it on January 31, 2019. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 31, 2019, 2779 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2779 days ago, on January 31, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers