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.
2,444 Articles
The Capture of Abu Anas al-Liby and the Attack on an al-Shabaab Leader [UPDATED as of Monday morning]
A couple of notes to follow up on Steve’s post [with UPDATES through Monday morning]: Abu Anas al-Liby is alleged to have been a leader in the al Qaeda conspiracy to bomb…
The Baraawe Raid: A Test for the Obama Administration’s View of al Shabab? [UPDATED]
[Update: 10:10 p.m. (EDT): It now appears that earlier reports were premature–and that the Baraawe raid may have resulted in the death of the senior Shabab leader earlier…
“Relevance” at the Royale Inn
The NSA’s controversial call records program is predicated on the extraordinary premise that the phone logs of nearly all Americans are “relevant” to an intelligence…
New NSA Reform Proposal from Sen. Leahy and Rep. Sensenbrenner
While the continued government shutdown has sidelined an estimated 800,000 federal employees and resulted in the cancellation of President Obama’s trip to Asia this weekend,…
Significant Fast & Furious Opinion in Oversight Committee v. Holder
On Monday, a federal district court refused to dismiss the congressional civil contempt action in Committee on Oversight and Government Reform v. Holder (“Holder”). This opinion…
NSA Bulk Collection, the “Corporate Store,” and the Forgotten ECPA Loophole
This weekend’s New York Times report on NSA aggregation of large databases to map the social networks of US citizens contains a reminder that the vast bulk phone records…
Journalism and/as Espionage: A Surreply to Gabriel Schoenfeld
I suspect we’re quickly reaching the point in the conversation about the relationship between national security journalism and espionage in which everything has been said,…
Gabriel Schoenfeld Responds to Lederman and Vladeck
I thank both Steve Vladeck and Marty Lederman for commenting on my post, a post that was drawn from a longer article, Journalism or Espionage? just published in the fall issue…
Syria and the Law of Humanitarian Intervention (Part II: International Law and the Way Forward)
My first post for Just Security explained why, despite some bungled politics, President Obama’s proposed military action in Syria could have been lawful under U.S. domestic law.…
The Shutdown and the Guantánamo Transfer Restrictions
Although folks disagree over how big an obstacle it really is, one of the bigger political (if not legal) obstacles to transferring detainees out of Guantánamo (to other countries)…
The Kris Paper, and the Problematic FISC Opinion on the Section 215 “Metadata” Collection Program [UPDATED Oct. 14]
If you haven’t done so already, you really ought to read David Kris’s very thoughtful and comprehensive paper on the Section 215 metadata collection program, a précis…
Debate (Round 2): A Reply to Rona and Corn
This post is the final post in a series from Gabor Rona, Geoffrey Corn, and Just Security’s Derek Jinks. The debate addresses a fundamental question for US national security…