Jared's security clearance

So here's the thing - kind of like Hillary's email stunt, this is definitely a thing that would get a normal civil servant peon's security clearance revoked.

But, security clearances were not created by legislation. They were created, and continue to exist, by executive order. In other words, the President has ultimate authority over who gets a security clearance. If he wants to give a security clearance to his dog, he can. Congress gets access to classified information, on a need-to-know basis, based on their Constitutional authority. (I am actually not clear on precisely how that intersects with executive authority - e.g., could the President issue an Executive Order that says only Republicans can access classified information, but no Democrats? I don't think so, but I don't know the legal nitty gritty of it.)

This is why people who periodically lament that various politicians shouldn't be entitled to see classified info because they'd never pass a background check... well, no, they wouldn't. But that's not the point. They don't need to go through the normal background process. If you're a member of the House Committee on Intelligence, by definition you get to poke your nose into what the intelligence agencies are doing because that is your Constitutionally-authorized job. Even if you have all kinds of red flags that would get you denied a clearance if you were a normal applicant.

So, back to Jared Kushner - yes, Wasserman Schultz's amendment is just a political stunt, because ultimately, Trump can give access to anyone he wants to. He can put anyone he likes on his staff, and legally, he can authorize them to see any classified information he wants to. I am sure he exercises all the discretion and due diligence in this that he exercises in every other aspect of his presidency.