If sensitive information is central, as seems the case on this issue, some of this may need to be done in closed session. Congress might give the lead to the House Select Committee for Intelligence, which has a better ability to handle classified testimony and documents than the House Oversight Committee. Avoiding political theater is especially important with privacy-protected information. In the past, public pressure resulting from congressional oversight and/or the media’s investigative reporting has prompted administrations to fire or force the resignation of irresponsible officials. It’s been less common for scandals to drive such responses from this administration, but keep in mind that Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, found himself without a job amid public outcry.

President Trump directed his chief of staff in 2017 to award Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance, overruling career officials who deemed the senior adviser and presidential son-in-law unworthy of eligibility access to that level of classified information, both the New York Times and The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The reaction has been swift and fierce, especially from Democrats on Capitol Hill. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), who had already requested security clearance-related information from the White House, called for “full compliance with its requests as soon as possible, or it may become necessary to consider alternative means to compel compliance.” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote: “There is no nepotism exception for background investigations.”

In fact, there is. It’s part of a huge “exception” for granting security clearances: the whim of the person in the Oval Office.

.. Legitimate questions remain about Kushner’s suitability for a senior position in the White House given his reported attempt to establish a secret back-channel with Russia during the transition — and to do it with Russian embassy communication equipment rather than anything under U.S. government control or knowledge.

.. But now, there are numerous legitimate questions for Congress to pursue. Why couldn’t Kushner get favorable approval through a system that millions of others have gone through? Does he have specific counterintelligence vulnerabilities for foreign manipulation? Did the president actually overrule career advice given to him — and, if so, why? Demanding information with subpoenas or with power-of-the-purse tactics about the president’s decision-making — not his inherent underlying authority — is how oversight should work in this case.

.. If sensitive information is central, as seems the case on this issue, some of this may need to be done in closed session. Congress might give the lead to the House Select Committee for Intelligence, which has a better ability to handle classified testimony and documents than the House Oversight Committee. Avoiding political theater is especially important with privacy-protected information.

In the past, public pressure resulting from congressional oversight and/or the media’s investigative reporting has prompted administrations to fire or force the resignation of irresponsible officials. It’s been less common for scandals to drive such responses from this administration, but keep in mind that Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, found himself without a job amid public outcry.