Federal Judge Rules Trump’s PCLOB Firings Were Illegal
President Donald Trump’s recent firings at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board were illegal based on congressional intent and the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Wednesday (see 2502250052).
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Fired PCLOB members Travis LeBlanc and Ed Felten sued Trump, the PCLOB, PCLOB board member Beth Williams, PCLOB Executive Director Jenny Fitzpatrick and White House Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse in February.
Fired FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya are seeking an expedited decision and reinstatement from the same court, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (see 2504110049).
The firings of LeBlanc and Felton were illegal “because although the plain text of the PCLOB’s organic statute does not include an express textual removal restriction, the Board’s structure and function clearly indicate that Congress intended to create such a restriction on the President’s removal power,” U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton wrote.
Walton found the removal restrictions constitutional, citing the separation of powers. The plaintiffs’ request for declaratory and injunctive relief is “available and appropriate under the circumstances presented to the Court in this case,” the judge said, granting their motion for summary judgment and denying DOJ’s cross-motion for summary judgment.
“I welcome the court’s decision restoring oversight, independence, and a quorum to a federal agency whose mission is the protection of our most precious civil liberties,” LeBlanc said in a statement Wednesday. “Now we can get back to work. I look forward to promptly returning to the agency and continuing my service to the nation.”
DOJ, which is expected to appeal, didn’t comment Wednesday.
Walton wrote that the role of PCLOB members “closely” resembles FTC commissioners as outlined in the Supreme Court’s Humphrey’s Executor decision, which outlines firing protections for FTC commissioners (see 2502200060). “Congress may constitutionally protect PCLOB members from removal,” he wrote.
Upholding the firings “would make the Board and its members beholden to the very authority it is supposed to oversee on behalf of Congress and the American people,” Walton added. It “would be to bless the President’s obvious attempt to exercise power beyond that granted to him by the Constitution and shield the Executive Branch’s counterterrorism actions from independent oversight, public scrutiny, and bipartisan congressional insight regarding those actions.”
Center for Democracy & Technology CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens welcomed the ruling: “PCLOB is an important oversight entity, protecting Americans’ privacy from improper and overbroad surveillance. A robust and independent PCLOB is particularly important given its role in overseeing national security programs that lack public transparency and have a history of abuse."
The decision "should enable PCLOB to return to a full quorum so it can continue its work to check government surveillance powers and enable American companies to exchange data with countries around the world," added the CDT executive.