Groups tasked with U.S. intelligence oversight have suffered a setback at the hands of the U.S. federal government shutdown. According to a Politico report, the five-member Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, the independent surveillance oversight board created by President Barack Obama to respond to criticisms of the National Security Agency’s activities, met with Congressional intelligence leadership on Tuesday, but member Michael Morell, former director of the CIA, declined to take part, saying it was inappropriate in light of the shutdown. Then, on Friday, the Review Group’s staff was furloughed by the Office of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. The volunteer board is free to meet, but all travel funds, etc., are frozen. Similarly, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was supposed to hold a public hearing Friday on proposals for changing surveillance programs but postponed the session because witnesses were unable to appear. Roughly 70 percent of the intelligence community in the U.S. is currently on furlough. Meanwhile, some are questioning why the FTC, for example, has chosen to cut off all access to its website during the shutdown.
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