Trump Seeks to Paralyze Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Watchdog

Source: New York Times

Trump Seeks to Paralyze Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Watchdog

The Trump White House has told three Democratic-selected members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to resign or be fired, which would stop the independent agency from functioning.


Sharon Bradford Franklin, the chairwoman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, was among three board members picked by Democrats who received an email from the White House telling them to submit resignation letters. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

By Charlie Savage
Charlie Savage writes about national security and legal policy. He reported from Washington.
Jan. 22, 2025, 12:34 p.m. ET

The Trump White House is moving to paralyze a bipartisan and independent watchdog agency that investigates national security activities that can intrude upon individual rights. ... The move comes as the new administration is vowing to put its own stamp on federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It also comes ahead of a new conflict over whether or how Congress should renew a warrantless surveillance law that is set to expire in 2026.

Congress established the agency, called the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, as an independent unit in the executive branch after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has security clearances and subpoena power, and is set up to have five members, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, who serve six-year terms. Some members are picked by the president, and some are selected by congressional leaders of the other party. ... It needs at least three members in order to take official actions like starting a new investigative project or issuing a board report with a policy recommendation. Its work has included scrutiny of surveillance and bulk data collection activities, terrorism watch lists and the use of facial recognition and other biometrics at airports.

On Tuesday evening, each of the three members who were picked by Democrats -- Sharon Bradford Franklin, Edward W. Felten and Travis LeBlanc -- received an email from the White House telling them to submit resignation letters by the close of business on Jan. 23, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. ... The people spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They said the email, sent by Trent Morse, the deputy director of presidential personnel, told the board members that that President Trump would terminate their positions if they did not resign by that deadline.

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An ouster would mean little to Ms. Franklin, a former staff director for the agency who is now the board's full-time chairwoman. Her term technically ended on Jan. 29, 2024. Under the agency's statute, members can serve one additional year after their terms end, unless or until their successors are appointed, to keep their seats from becoming vacant. So Ms. Franklin was set to depart the board next week regardless. ... But the term for Mr. Felten, a Princeton University computer science and public policy professor, is set to end on Jan. 29 of this year-- meaning he has been set to stay in place for another year unless a replacement gets confirmed. And Mr. LeBlanc, a cybersecurity and data privacy lawyer, has been set to stay on the board until as late as January 2029. (1) ... While selected by congressional Democrats, both Mr. Felten and Mr. LeBlanc were appointed by Mr. Trump during his first term after also interviewing with the White House.

Charlie Savage writes about national security and legal policy. More about Charlie Savage
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(1) https://www.cooley.com/people/travis-leblanc

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/us/trump-privacy-civil-liberties-oversight-board.html