New legislation introduced Thursday morning by Republican Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.) and John Cornyn (Texas) would revoke security clearances from Hillary Clinton and her top aides during her tenure at the State Department.
The bill, coined the TRUST Act, follows FBI director James Comet's Tuesday announcement that Clinton and her staff "were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."
Gardner said that the FBI's decision not to recommend charges has forced Congress to take action.
"The FBI’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s personal email server confirmed what Americans across the country already know: Secretary Clinton recklessly accessed classified information on an insecure system–establishing a vulnerable and highly desirable target for foreign hackers," Gardner said. "If the FBI won’t recommend action based on its findings, Congress will. At the very least, Secretary Clinton should not have access to classified information, and our bill makes sure of it."
Cornyn said Clinton has shown that she can't be trusted.
"Access to classified information is a tremendous responsibility, and should only be entrusted to those who will treat that information with the care it deserves," Cornyn said. "When individuals mishandle our country’s most sensitive information they jeopardize national security and shouldn’t be trusted with such an important responsibility."
House Speaker Paul Ryan and leading lawyers have both argued in the wake of the FBI assessment that Clinton should not be given the classified intelligence briefings that are commonly given to presidential candidates.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on Wednesday evening that the Justice Department would not pursue charges against Clinton.
Lynch's involvement in the case has been complicated by the fact that she had a private meeting with former president Bill Clinton in the final week of the FBI's investigation.