A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that President Trump’s firing of two Democrats from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) was illegal, declaring them “null and void.”
According to U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, the PCLOB’s “responsibility” to oversee the government’s counterterrorism actions and policies and recommend changes is “incompatible” with the president’s ability to remove members at will.
He overturned Trump’s firings of Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten, two of the PCLOB’s three Democratic members, after concluding that the board’s structure and function “clearly indicate” that Congress intended to limit the president’s removal authority 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 in the 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 the ruling, which was 71 pages long.
Trump fired the three Democrats just days after returning to the White House in January, putting much of the board’s work on hold.
The board was established in response to the 9/11 Commission Report, which was issued following the 2001 terrorist attacks, to ensure that the government’s efforts to combat terrorism are balanced with civil liberties protections.
The decision means that LeBlanc and Felton can continue to serve on the board until their terms expire, unless the government files an appeal and a higher court rules otherwise.
Several of Trump’s firings have drawn legal scrutiny, particularly those of independent agency members. The majority of judges ruled that the firings were unlawful, prompting the Justice Department to file an appeal.
The government has filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court, seeking to halt summary judgment rulings that reinstate fired Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board.
