Congressional Republicans cannot be trusted to strike the right balance between privacy and national security in encryption legislation, White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested on Friday.
Although saying the Obama administration is willing to work with lawmakers to set policy on the matter, Earnest said passing a good law requires finesse that Republicans lack.
“[T]here is a reason to doubt the ability of the dysfunctional Congress, particularly one that is led by Republicans who have refused to embrace their responsibility to govern, that they’d be able to handle and successfully pass legislation that would address this issue,” Earnest said.
“The president has indicated that he believes in the robust implementation of strong encryption,” Earnest said. “At the same time, the president has also acknowledged that we need to make sure that our law enforcement and our national security professionals, within the appropriate confines of the law, can do their job to keep us safe.”
Obama acknowledges “there is some tension on those principles,” he said. “[W]e need to resolve them in a way that doesn’t undermine the basic civil liberties and privacy protections that are critical to our country, and that the president prioritizes.
“So, we will engage in a conversation with Congress about this but … I’m a little skeptical that Congress is going to be able to handle this effectively,” Earnest said. “But that is not going to prevent us from engaging with them to try to help them get it right.”
