Foreign policy & defense
classified information
Information restricted because disclosure would damage national security, marked Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, with additional compartments above that.
In full
Classification authority flows from executive order, not from statute, and the President has broad power over the system. Levels correspond to the expected degree of damage from disclosure. Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Programs add further restrictions on top of Top Secret. Overclassification is a documented and persistent problem.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.