Latest news with #PrivacyandCivilLibertiesOversightBoard
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge blocks Trump admin from firing 2 Dem members of privacy oversight board
A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's administration from firing two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board on Wednesday. Trump fired all three Democratic members of the five-person board in February, resulting in two of them filing a lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton found that allowing unilateral firings would prevent the board from carrying out its purpose. Walton wrote that allowing at-will removals would make the board "beholden to the very authority it is supposed to oversee on behalf of Congress and the American people." The oversight board was initially created by Congress to ensure that federal counterterrorism policies were in line with privacy and civil liberties law. 'Activist' Judges Keep Trying To Curb Trump's Agenda – Here's How He Could Push Back "To hold otherwise 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," Walton wrote. Read On The Fox News App Trump's firings left just one Republican on the board. The third Democratic member had just two days left in her term when she was removed, and she did not sue the administration. Trump Administration Guts Institute Of Peace Of 'Rogue Bureaucrats' After Doge Standoff In Government Office The two plaintiffs, Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten, argued in their lawsuit that members of the board cannot be fired without cause. Meanwhile, lawyers for Trump's administration argued that members of other congressionally created boards do have explicit job protections, and it would therefore be wrong for Walton to create such protections where they are absent. "The Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told the Associated Press. "The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue." The plaintiffs also argued that their firings left just one member on the board, a Republican, and that falls short of the quorum required for the board to function. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Federal judge blocks Trump admin from firing 2 Dem members of privacy oversight board
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wednesday's Mini-Report, 5.21.25
Today's edition of quick hits. * Just when it seemed our retirement accounts had recovered, this happened: 'Fears of a global government borrowing glut — likely to be compounded by the GOP's spending and tax-cuts bill — helped fuel an unusually weak auction for U.S. government bonds that sent markets into a tailspin Wednesday. The broad S&P 500 fell 1.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined more than 800 points, or 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was off 1.4%.' * Given a series of events such as these, won't judges eventually have to start holding some officials in contempt? 'After a deportation flight with eight migrants left Texas reportedly intended for South Sudan this week, a federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration had violated a previous order.' * Another rough day in court for the White House: 'A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that President Trump broke the law when he fired members of an independent civil liberties watchdog without cause in January, ordering the reinstatement of those challenging their removals in court. In a 71-page opinion, Judge Reggie B. Walton of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said that Mr. Trump's dismissal of Democratic-selected members to the five-person Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was illegal.' * The sanctions Trump keeps threatening, without any follow-through: 'Without waiting for Washington, the European Union and the U.K. announced a new raft of sanctions against Russia on today, less than 24 hours after Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin exchanged a friendly, if fruitless, phone call about ending the war in Ukraine.' * The judge in the Baraka case sure did seem displeased: 'A federal judge on Wednesday scolded federal prosecutors and announced he will dismiss trespassing charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka related to a standoff at a migrant detention center. Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba announced earlier this week she would drop charges against Baraka (but at the same time announced new charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver stemming from a scuffle during Baraka's arrest). Federal magistrate judge Andre Espinosa reprimanded the federal prosecutors for more than five minutes, calling the retraction of the charges 'embarrassing.'' * Remember when the United States used to help lead efforts like these? 'After three years of intensive negotiations, the World Health Organization on Tuesday adopted the world's first agreement on how to cooperate and respond to future pandemics — without the support of the United States.' * Five years after George Floyd's murder: 'The Justice Department moved Wednesday to drop police-accountability agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville, abandoning the Biden administration's attempt to reshape law enforcement in cities where high-profile killings by officers ignited widespread outrage.' * On Capitol Hill, surprises like these are uncommon: 'In a surprise move, the Republican-led Senate quickly passed the No Tax on Tips Act on Tuesday, giving its official stamp of approval to an idea that has gained traction since President Donald Trump campaigned on it last year.' * Speaking of developments in the Senate: 'Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, has put a hold on four nominees for the Environmental Protection Agency.' * It might be a while before the Sun-Times lives this one down: 'The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper is receiving major backlash after it printed an AI-generated 'summer reading list for 2025' Sunday that promoted several nonexistent book titles.' See you tomorrow. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump illegally fired surveillance watchdog agency's Democrats, judge rules
President Donald Trump illegally removed two Democratic members of a federal privacy oversight board, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. Washington-based U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that Trump's firings of Travis LeBlanc and Ed Felten, two Democratic members on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was unlawful, stating that the board's structure was intended to have a restriction on the president's removal power. As a result, Walton ordered that LeBlanc and Felten remain as board members. "Such unfettered authority 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, a George W. Bush appointee, said in his ruling. "To hold otherwise 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." The case could have ramifications beyond the board, extending to the rest of the Trump administration's control of independent federal agencies. 'The Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority. The Trump administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in response to the order. LeBlanc and Felten claimed the Trump administration violated 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent that upheld limits passed by Congress on the president's ability to fire independent agency members. President Donald Trump has targeted DEI as part of various executive orders, and Carr often echoes the president's complaints in his pledges to end any invidious forms of discrimination in the companies he regulates. Trump fired all Democrats, including its chair, Sharon Bradford Franklin, from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in January, leaving a single Republican member. Without at least a three-member quorum, PCLOB can't start new projects or issue official board reports, such as its reviews of the EU-US data privacy framework and government surveillance programs. Walton's order Wednesday means the board will have a quorum again. The board was created in 2007 as an independent executive branch agency to ensure that government surveillance did not curtail civil liberties and privacy rights in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Although it has lacked a quorum for much of its history, the board has also provided key recommendations that led to the U.S. government ending its bulk phone data collection program and creating guardrails for other surveillance tools. 'We will abide by the court order. We understand the Department of Justice intends to appeal,' Alan Silverleib, a spokesperson for PCLOB, said in a statement. There are similar lawsuits accusing the Trump administration of illegally firing independent agency members at the Federal Trade Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the National Credit Union Administration. This decision could potentially have an effect on how those cases are decided. It comes amid an already unclear legal environment around Trump's firings. Last month, Chief Justice John Roberts granted the White House's request to halt lower court rulings that reinstated two members of other boards whom Trump also tried to fire without offering any justification for the dismissals. The temporary stay Roberts ordered April 9 remains in place more than 6 weeks later with no further action by the court. The lack of action has led many court-watchers to infer that the high court intends to let Trump's dismissal of those officials and others stand, at least until the court takes up the question of presidential firing powers in greater depth, perhaps in the fall. Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge finds Trump's firing of Democrats on privacy oversight board unlawful
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that President Trump's firing of two Democrats on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) were unlawful, deeming them 'null and void.' U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said that PCLOB's 'responsibility' to oversee the government's counterterrorism actions and policies and recommend changes is 'incompatible' with at-will removal by the president. He invalidated Trump's firings of Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten, two of PCLOB's three Democratic members, after determining that the board's structure and function 'clearly indicate' that Congress meant to restrict the president's removal power over its members. Trump also fired the third Democratic member, but her term was about to expire, so she did not join the other members' legal challenge. 'To hold otherwise 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,' Walton wrote in a 71-page ruling. Trump fired the three Democrats just days after returning to the White House in January, bringing much of the board's work to a standstill. Established in response to the 9/11 Commission Report, following the 2001 terror attacks, the board was designed to ensure the government's work to fight terrorism is balanced with protections for civil liberties. The decision means that both LeBlanc and Felton can continue serving on the board until their terms end, unless the government appeals and a higher court rules differently. Several of Trump's firings have come under legal scrutiny, particularly regarding independent agency members. Most judges have deemed the firings unlawful, prompting appeals by the Justice Department. The government has an emergency application pending at the Supreme Court seeking to halt summary judgment rulings reinstating fired Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
21-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Federal judge blocks Trump's firing of two Democratic members of privacy oversight board
A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump's firing of two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The ruling Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ends the lawsuit brought by two of the three fired board members in February. The five-member board is an independent watchdog agency housed within the executive branch. Congress created the agency after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and tasked the board members with making sure the federal government's counterterrorism policies are balanced against privacy and civil liberties. 'The Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority,' White House spokesperson Harrison Fields wrote in an email to The Associated Press. 'The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.' Walton said in the written ruling that allowing at-will removal of board members by the president would make the board 'beholden to the very authority it is supposed to oversee on behalf of Congress and the American people.' 'To hold otherwise 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,' Walton wrote. The judge said that even though the statute creating the board didn't include any specific protections from at-will removal for board members, the basic structure and function of the board showed that Congress intended to restrict the President's power to fire board members. Former board members Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten sued in February, asking the judge to find that board members can't be fired without cause. Otherwise, they said, members would fear that criticizing the executive branch would lead to their dismissal, effectively rendering the agency unable to give candid, independent advice to Congress. The third Democratic board member removed by Trump had just two days left in her six-year term and did not sue. Another board seat was already vacant, leaving just one Republican-appointed member on the board. That's well short of the quorum required for the agency to perform any significant activities, including the duties mandated by Congress like an in-the-works report on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, LeBlanc and Felten said in the lawsuit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Dreier told the judge in court documents that other congressionally-created independent boards do have special protections from removal written into statute. He said the judge should not add a protection that Congress declined to grant, suggesting that would be akin to stepping into a legislative role.
