President Trump – Please Reconsider Order to Fire the PCLOB Democrats

​In his fusillade of executive actions, President Donald Trump sent letters demanding the resignations of Sharon Bradford Franklin, Chair of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), along with her two Democratic colleagues. If they don’t leave, then in his trademark style the president will say, “You’re fired!”
 
We suggest that the president think twice. The new administration is clearing out the very people who could be natural allies of President Trump in one key regard – exposing the misuse of intelligence programs. This includes abuses of some of the very programs that were used against Donald Trump in the past.
 
By law, the program must have members from both parties. With the Democrats fired and a preexisting Republican vacancy, PCLOB would have only one remaining member, Republican Beth A. Williams. Without a quorum, PCLOB would effectively not exist. At least two of the Democrats – Chair Franklin and Travis LeBlanc – have been outspoken skeptics of the intelligence agencies and the surveillance status quo.
 
PCLOB is the only watchdog agency tasked with ensuring that the intelligence community and its programs respect Americans’ rights and freedoms. Its stated mission is “working to ensure that efforts by the executive branch to protect the nation from terrorism appropriately safeguard privacy and civil liberty.” Such a watchdog could be a strong ally to a Director of National Intelligence like Tulsi Gabbard and an FBI Director like Kash Patel in exposing surveillance abuses by the intelligence community.
 
Firing the sitting Democrats will lead to one of two outcomes. It will either null out a privacy watchdog that could help the administration’s agenda curb the “deep state.” Or the agency will be refloated with a new quorum that – under its legal charter – must include two new Democrats, who might be a lot less friendly to the Trump surveillance reform agenda.
 
The Trump Administration is off to a commendably brisk start. We respectfully suggest that this decision get a second look.

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