What to know about presidents and security clearances

What to know about presidents and security clearances toggle caption Anna Rose Layden/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images The question of who should have access to the nation's secrets is one of the utmost importance. Presidents have access to secrets, but don't receive formal security clearances Most Americans, like federal workers or military personnel, need a formal security clearance before they can gain access to classified information or secured facilities. The sitting president has access to nearly all of the nation's secrets, as well as the powers to classify and declassify material — as seen last month, when Trump vowed to declassify thousands of documents related to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. What remains out of the sitting president's purview is the ability to declassify nuclear information, which is determined by law written by Congress, according to Rudesill, who has previously worked in government for the U.S. intelligence community and held a high-level security clearance. Much is up to the sitting president's discretion Because presidents do not receive formal security clearances, their ability to gain access to classified information once they leave office is completely up to their successor. "Congress has written actually relatively little law with regard to classified information and security clearances, and mainly provided penalties for people who leak or improperly disclose classified information," he said.