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.
2,468 Articles
Guest Post: Torture is Still on the Table
The recent Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogations is a parade of horribles. Detainees by the dozen arrested wrongfully and later released, including innocent…
Flashback—Ex-Bush Official, Col. Wilkerson: “I am Willing to Testify” If Dick Cheney is Prosecuted for Torture
I was reminded yesterday of an interview on Democracy Now! with Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.) in 2011, in which he was asked about Vice President Dick Cheney’s recently released…
The Torture Report and Korematsu‘s Shadow
Seventy years ago today–on Monday, December 18, 1944–the Supreme Court handed down its now-infamous decision in Korematsu v. United States, upholding the conviction…
Guest Post: Intelligence Legalism and the Torture Report
As I was reading the SSCI’s torture report last week, my mind went back to two Just Security posts last month (here and here), in which I argued that the U.S. Intelligence Community…
New National Security Appointees
The 113th Congress has concluded its work and in some of its last actions, the Senate confirmed the White House’s nominees to a number of administration posts relevant to…
Guest Post: Drone Courts–A Response to Professor Vladeck
Editors’ note: In this post, Professors Brand, Guiora, and Barela reply to Steve Vladeck’s December 2 post, “Drone Courts: The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem,”…
The Washington Post Editorial Board’s (mis)conception of Congress’s role in war authorizations
In Monday’s Washington Post, the editorial board called for the next Congress to prioritize passage of an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) against ISIL, but also…
The Unintended Consequences of the 2001 AUMF Sunset
I join Ryan Goodman in applauding the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under the strong leadership of its Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and many others…
Why Do We Talk About Torture The Way We Do?
Editors’ Note: The following post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from…
Recap of Recent Posts at Just Security (Dec 6-12)
I. Torture A. Senate Intelligence Committee Torture Report Just Security, Senate Report on Interrogation Program – Executive Summary and Opposing Views (Tuesday, Dec. 9) Steve…
The Torture Report is Only the First Step
Ed Note. This piece also appears in Foreign Policy. Great nations admit and learn from their mistakes. The United States took a major step forward this week with the long-delayed…
The Cost-Benefit Analysis: The Preventive Value of the Senate Torture Report
Amidst the full-throated defense of the CIA’s interrogation tactics (see, e.g., Cheney – “I’d do it again”), the President’s refusal to state whether or not abusive…