Agency Overseeing Surveillance Post-9/11 Hampered by Empty Seats (1)

Empty seats hamper an agency created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to oversee the privacy and civil rights implications of government surveillance, according to advocacy groups.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union urged President Joe Biden in a recent letter to fill vacancies on the five-seat Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

The board currently has just two members and no chair. The last time it was at full capacity was from 2019 until January 2021.

Representatives for the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the vacancies.

Without at ...