President Trump announced that he has revoked the security clearances of over a dozen political opponents, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and several officials from the Biden administration.
In a presidential memorandum released on Saturday, Trump stated that it was “no longer in the national interest” for these individuals to retain access to classified information.
Critics have interpreted the decision as retaliation for Biden’s 2021 move to strip Trump of his clearance, citing concerns over what Biden described as Trump’s “erratic behavior.”
Trump Revokes Biden’s Security Clearance
The list of those affected extends beyond Biden and his administration, targeting individuals involved in Trump’s first impeachment trial, such as Fiona Hill, Norm Eisen, and Alexander Vindman. Former Secretaries of State Antony Blinken and Hillary Clinton were also included.
Additionally, the revocations apply to legal figures like New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom have led high-profile legal actions against Trump.
Two Republican lawmakers who opposed Trump—Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom served on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol—were also named in the memo.
Donald Trump
Former Officials Dismiss the Move as Symbolic
Despite the announcement, the practical impact is expected to be minimal. Security clearances for former officials are typically revoked once they leave office unless they continue to engage in national security affairs. Many of those named in the memo have not held active clearances for years.
Eisen, a former special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s 2019 impeachment inquiry, ridiculed the move in a post on X:
“It’s like the third time he’s announced he’s revoking my security clearance. I mean, does he revoke it [and] then give it back to me so he can revoke it again? Who does he think I am, a big law firm or a billionaire who’s gonna back down? It just makes me file even more lawsuits!”
Vindman, a former National Security Council official who testified during Trump’s impeachment hearings, similarly dismissed the action as insignificant:
“I’m not a weak-kneed billionaire or a massive spineless law firm, so I don’t care what noises @realDonaldTrump makes about a security clearance that hasn’t been active for five years.”
Attorney Mark Zaid, whose clearance was also revoked, expressed skepticism in a sarcastic response:
“This is like the third time already I’ve lost my security clearance? How many times does it take? Is this like a [Beetlejuice] thing where something magical will now happen?”
