House Democrat Tells Fox News Congress Doesn’t ‘Totally Understand’ Classified Docs Handling, Lawmakers Don’t Get Proper Training

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) told Fox News this week lawmakers likely don’t have enough training on handling classified materials amid probes into President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Appearing on Fox & Friends on Wednesday, Houlahan cited her experience in the U.S. Air Force when expressing shock at how “loose” regulations are for politicians on classified materials.

“It’s not just a presidential issue. I believe we also in the House and the Senate need to be more thoughtful about how we handle classified materials and information, and I believe we ought to have the same kind of background checks and training that we do when we’re in the military,” the Democratic lawmaker said.

She admitted Congress doesn’t “totally understand” how to properly handle classified documents because they don’t have proper training.

“This is something that I think that we in the Congress don’t totally understand, frankly, because I don’t think we have adequate training and understanding of the sensitivity of these documents,” she said.

Houlahan revealed security clearances are given “instantly” to members of Congress before they get any training. This is obviously not something that occurs in the military where security clearances need to be based on rank and specific training being completed and maintained.

“During our onboarding as we come in as freshmen, we have no training right now at this point in time on how to manage classified information,” the congresswoman said. “We are literally signed into our clearances – something that took me more than a year to obtain when I was a young lieutenant – [this] is something that is instantly granted to us, and so I think there needs to be more thought process put to that”.

Watch above via Fox News.

CORRECTION: This article originally stated Rep. Houlahan is serving her first term in the House. She is in her third term.

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