Flake backs effort to rein in Trump on security clearances
GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) is backing an effort to rein in President Trump's ability to revoke security clearances as payback against the president's critics.
Flake, who has been among the most vocal Republicans critical of Trump, said Wednesday that he is supporting the amendment from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, calling it the "right thing to do."
"I think being conservative means not wanting to amass power in any one institution or individual and this basically takes us back to where we were in the 1990s, which was a better place, I think, in terms of security clearances," Flake said when asked if he was supporting the amendment.
Flake added in a separate statement that Congress should "ensure that the president is not misusing his executive power" by yanking a security clearance "for purely political reasons." Warner introduced the amendment earlier this week to make it more difficult to revoke an individual's security clearance.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/403159-flake-backs-effort-to-rein-in-trump-on-security-clearances
