Wyden Leads 11 Members of Congress Urging Appeals Court to Uphold Independence of Privacy Oversight Board

Wyden Leads 11 Members of Congress Urging Appeals Court to Uphold Independence of Privacy Oversight Board

Sens. Heinrich, Blumenthal, Booker, Hirono, Markey, and Warren, with Reps. Lieu, Lofgren, Jayapal and Jacobs, File Amicus Brief Arguing Trump Cannot Fire Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Members Without Cause

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., led 11 members of Congress calling on a federal appeals court to uphold the independence of a critical privacy and surveillance watchdog, in an amicus brief they filed on Friday.

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) members Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten are challenging their illegal firing by Donald Trump. In May, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Trump could not fire LeBlanc and Felten, and ordered them reinstated. The Trump administration appealed that ruling, which is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, with oral arguments scheduled for late October.

The brief is signed by Wyden, Senators Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., along with Representatives Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.

In their brief, the members argued that Congress deliberately established the PCLOB as an independent board in 2007, in response to executive branch interference with oversight by an earlier version of the board. Allowing the president to fire board members without cause would gut the board's independence and effectiveness.

"No longer could Congress reliably conclude that the PCLOB's reports and recommendations are nonpartisan, independent, and guided only by the facts, undermining its value as a legislative aid," the members wrote. "With at-will removal power, the president could also remove members until the PCLOB falls below the quorum required to perform its core duties, crippling the Board and hampering congressional oversight."

The PCLOB was established after the 9/11 Commission recommended its creation to provide independent oversight and public transparency regarding government surveillance. When operating at its fullest capacity, the PCLOB has produced influential reports on multiple secretive surveillance laws, including past reports on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Executive Order 12333, and mass surveillance of phone records under the now-expired Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

Leah J. Tulin, Faiza Patel and Hannah James of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, and Noah Chauvin of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, served as co-counsel.

Read the full amicus brief here.

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