Congress
Just Security’s expert authors offer analysis of U.S. Congress’ role in national security, foreign affairs, the rule of law, and rights. Coverage includes analysis and informational resources related to the legislative process, oversight and investigations of the executive branch, and major debates on the separation of powers and Congress’ constitutional role.
2,549 Articles
Cohen’s Slush Fund is Not Business as Usual—But Business as Usual Needs to Change
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, sold his access to the president to multinational corporations, including one reportedly controlled by a Russian oligarch,…
A Possible US-EU Agreement on Law Enforcement Access to Data?
[Cross-posted on Lawfare] Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to fly to Sofia, Bulgaria for a May 22 meeting with senior European law enforcement officials. In the wake…
Enhanced Evasion Techniques
On Thursday, May 17, after only a few hours of debate, the Senate approved Gina Haspel’s nomination as CIA director by a margin of 54 to 45 votes. The vote broke largely, but…
Letter to the Editor: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment Reader’s Guide
Harold Koh and the Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic should be proud of their work. Released on April 18, the Clinic’s “Reader’s Guide” to Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth…
Contempt of Congress, Contempt by Congress
The latest sideshow stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion is Congressmen Devin Nunes’s (R-Calif.) and Mark Meadows’s (R-N.C.)…
Gina Haspel: Feminist Smokescreen, Not Choice
Over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that it would be hypocritical to at once “support women’s empowerment” and oppose the nomination of Gina…
The Diplomats Speak: More Opposition to Gina Haspel’s Nomination to Head the CIA
Above: CIA headquarters. An august group of 115 retired diplomats have now circulated their own letter (reproduced below) in opposition to the nomination of Gina Haspel to lead…
Can An Insider Save CIA From Itself?
As confirmation hearings loom for Gina Haspel to be director of CIA, the focus has understandably been on what actions she might have taken in the Agency’s enhanced interrogation…
More Questions for Gina Haspel—The Record of False CIA Claims about Torture’s “Efficacy”
Recently Katherine Hawkins published a comprehensive set of questions that Gina Haspel, nominee to head the CIA, should be asked during her confirmation hearings (“What the…
Gina Haspel and the Elusive Shadow of CIA Torture: A Response to Ben Wittes
"At Lawfare, Ben Wittes has a long post up titled 'Why I Support Gina Haspel—Despite a Big Reservation.' ... But the core of Ben's post is based on a point on which he and I…
Just Security Podcast: Mike Breen on the US Abandoning the Iran Nuclear Deal
President Donald Trump announces his decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room at the White House May 8, 2018. (Photo by Chip…
The Haspel Nomination as a Referendum on (Un-)Accountability
One of the consistent themes of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence over the past few decades has been aggressive hostility to “judge-made” remedies, i.e., the…