# Could a US President be denied security clearance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822 "2016-05-27T15:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/81 "2016-05-29T17:13:06Z")
Two presidential terms gone already and you guys are still at it: 🙂 \*\*What is the POTUS’ level of clearance in top secret matters \*\*[What is the POTUS' level of clearance in top secret matters? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467897) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/82 "2016-05-29T18:15:50Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Two presidential terms gone already and you guys are still at it: 🙂 > \*\*What is the POTUS’ level of clearance in top secret matters \*\*[What is the POTUS' level of clearance in top secret matters? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467897) The correct answer doesn’t change. Neither does the level of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/83 "2016-05-29T18:16:35Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Oh no you haven’t. > > The one law you’ve cited is 50 U.S. Code § 3038. That has nothing to do with the classification system - the word classify in any form is absent, in fact. Sigh, that’s because the law is 18 U.S. Code § 798 which says: > [@](#): > > The term “classified information” means information which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a United States Government Agency for limited or restricted dissemination or distribution; > **[18 U.S. Code § 798 - Disclosure of classified information](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/798)** ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/84 "2016-05-29T18:27:46Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Sigh, that’s because the law is 18 U.S. Code § 798 which says: OK, sorry I missed that. My doing so does not make it relevant. A law proposing penalties for the release of classified information is not the same thing as a law creating a system of classification. You have cause and effect exactly reversed. All I can is again repeat that you and anybody else still slogging through this nonsense read [EO 13526](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-classified-national-security-information) and see how totally, completely, wildly different it is from the laws you cite. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/85 "2016-05-29T18:52:59Z")
In related news, the Queen is not a subject. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/86 "2016-05-29T21:49:53Z")
[QUOTE=Constitution, Article II, Section 1] The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. [/QUOTE] That ends the debate. The President trumps the AG, the Secretary of Defense, or any other official. Congress may not pass laws to infringe on the President’s authority to head the executive department. This is what I believe Nixon meant in his much maligned statement that “If the President does it, it’s not illegal.” If the Prez decides to help Iran build a nuke by giving them our secret plans, he hasn’t violated the law, but may be impeached, convicted, and removed from office. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822/87 "2016-05-30T02:05:18Z")
If Congress repealed every law relating to security clearances, and you then revealed classified information, then yes, the government _could_ still impose penalties on you. At the very least, they could fire you. Or if you’re a contractor not working for the government directly, they could tell your employer to fire you, and if your employer refused, the government could cut off your employer’s contracts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-us-president-be-denied-security-clearance/755822.md?page=4)