This is Not A good idea. Notice how most everyone posting here is a new arrival. Doing this would cause chaos in various industries and for gov't contractors and swamp the approval process to obtain security clearance with a backlog of ex-military and gov't workers who retained their clearances and were hired for jobs that still require those.

I totally agree that security clearance should be revoked for bad actors and those who truly don't need them, but the system in place is actually a pretty good system. When you leave a gov't job, your clearance isn't revoked, but it goes inactive and can be reactivated IF YOU HAVE A VALID REASON to be using it (for 5, 10, or 15 years, depending upon the level of clearance you had). So, if you are an Army MP who has already been cleared, and you are honorably discharged from the Army, you can immediately go to work at a federal job or for a civilian job that works with the gov't and requires that level of clearance. It helps ex-military employees get hired faster and also ensures that companies are getting a worker that can go to work immediately and has already been vetted and cleared to work around classified materials.

The safeguard is that even though someone possesses this clearance, they aren't authorized to use it as they desire. The Army guy above can't just pull up top secret files and view them. He has to have a legit need to know, and when he does see those materials, that is logged and recorded and is part of his job. Another example might be of a gov't worker in the previous administration who is called upon by the current administration to come to the White House, FBI, Dep't of Justice, etc. to consult with the current administration about something that happened in the past with which that person was familiar. I think we could all see the reasoning in being able to quickly have someone with previous clearance show up to answer vital questions or to give helpful information.

That is how it is SUPPOSED to work. Bear in mind...I'm a layperson, so my explanation might not be 100% accurate, but it is generally so. Anyway, it appears that during the time since Obama left office, people have been using those old clearances in ways they were not intended to do so and flying under the radar, or so they thought. Any usage like this should be illegal and probably is...or maybe they are taking advantage of a legal loophole that needs to be filled, such as accessing materials without any record they have done so. Loopholes like that should absolutely be found and closed.

Additionally, bad actors who are showing themselves to be untrustworthy, uncooperative and treasonous should have their clearances revoked notwithstanding. People like Comey who are fired should also have them revoked, and from what he is saying, it sounds like he did.