Some changes but still no direct subpoena power

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is an independent agency that makes sure national intelligence efforts against terrorism don't infringe on people's privacy and civil liberties. The bipartisan body emerged out of the 9/11 Commission recommendations followed up by a law passed in 2007.

It is made up of five members, all nominated by the president and approved by the Senate. Through much of Obama's first term, the board existed in name only because it lacked a full complement of five appointees. But in 2012, four members won approval, and in 2013, the board gained a chairman, David Medine, to fill out the roster.

Neema Guliani with the American Civil Liberties Union gives props to the administration for reviving a dormant agency.

"In Obama's second term, you've seen that board become more active," Guliani said. "The board has issued two reports that provided an important contribution to the public debate."

Unfortunately, Guliani noted, the chairman stepped down in July 2016, and Obama has yet to replace him, leaving the board with only four members.

"It remains to be seen whether the administration will leave the board as healthy as it might be," she said.

If Obama took steps to staff up the board, he was less successful at giving it direct subpoena powers. Under the 2007 law that created the board, it can subpoena witnesses, but it must ask the attorney general to issue the subpoena on its behalf. The board is classified as an agency and agencies can be given direct subpoena powers. At this point, Congress would need to pass a law to give the board that power and that has not happened.

During Obama's first term, we rated this Promise Broken. Without its own subpoena power, it remains Promise Broken.