White House asks key government privacy watchdogs to resign
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President Trump signing executive orders. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The White House has requested that the three Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) resign by end of day Thursday or face termination, a source close to the agency confirmed.
Why it matters: The move will dismantle a key intelligence program watchdog agency, leaving it with just one member as it prepares to help lawmakers navigate a highly contentious debate over whether to keep certain government surveillance powers intact.
The big picture: PCLOB is just the latest privacy and security-related board to have its membership wiped as the new Trump administration settles in.
- Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine C. Huffman sent a letter Monday terminating all members of the department's advisory boards — including one that was investigating the China-backed hack of U.S. telcos.
- "Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security will no longer tolerate any advisory committee which push agendas that attempt to undermine its national security mission, the President's agenda or Constitutional rights of Americans," a senior DHS official said in a statement.
Between the lines: Loyalty is paramount to President Trump as he builds his new group of advisers.
Zoom in: The White House sent the letters to three Democratic members of PCLOB Tuesday night, the New York Times first reported.
- Those members include Chair Sharon Bradford Franklin and two other members selected by Democratic administrations, Edward W. Felten and Travis LeBlanc.
- The board was established following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to investigate any national security work that could infringe on individual civil rights.
- In recent years the board weighed in on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a program that allows for warrantless collection of bulk online communications and comes up for renewal again next year.
- PCLOB is also instrumental in implementing an agreement between the U.S. and European Union that allows businesses to transfer Europeans' data to the United States.
- The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
How it works: The board is an independent agency that's designed to have five members, and its charter does not allow for more than three members from the president's party.
- The fifth seat at the board had been vacant for years, and the forced resignations would leave Beth Williams as the sole member.
- PCLOB needs three members—who require Senate confirmation—to have a quorum. Without one, the staff cannot start new projects or close out existing ones.
What they're saying: "President Trump's attempt to expel members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is a brazen effort to destroy an independent watchdog that has protected Americans and exposed surveillance abuse under Democratic and Republican administrations alike," Alexandra Reeve Givens, CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology, said in a statement.
- "This is an effort to shoot the watchdog. That's a very bad signal about what this President wants to do next."
What's next: It's unclear how quickly Trump would move to name new members of the board. PCLOB is historically low on any administration's nomination list.
Go deeper: National Security Council staffers grilled about loyalty to Trump
