Then-Millenium challenge corporation CEO Sean Cairncross speaks during a ceremony on Aug. 5, 2019 at the presidential palace in Abidjan. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP) (Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images)
A demonstrator holds up a sign during a rally in front of the U.S. Treasury Department in protest of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency on Feb. 4. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
“I never thought I would have to work on such a basic issue as this," the Texas Republican says about the federal security clearance process, which is…