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.

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2,559 Articles
People without face masks protest the stay at home orders designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus and keep people healthy. They hold signs encouraging people to demand that businesses be allowed to open up, and people allowed to go back to work, at the Country Club Plaza on April 20, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. They also wave American flags and stand very close together ignoring social distancing standards.

Missouri’s Lawsuit Doesn’t Abrogate China’s Sovereign Immunity

U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over private class action lawsuits brought against Chinese government defendants for their alleged misconduct in allowing the coronavirus to…
Soldiers attached to the 101st Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade from the 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Iowa National Guard and 10th Mountain, 2-14 Infantry Battalion, Ghost Forward Support Company load onto a Chinook helicopter to head out and execute missions across the Combined Joint Operations Area- Afghanistan

Why We Filed a FOIA Request on How Many US Troops Are in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria

Last night, Just Security filed FOIA requests with the Defense Department seeking U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
Tech. Sgt. Jonisha Gibson, 82nd Medical Group clinical laboratory noncommissioned officer in charge, inspects a FilmArray pouch.

Is the Roberts Court Going to Let Coronavirus Kill Us?

It is looking increasingly as though a nationwide program of testing, and hopefully vaccination, may be the only way to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus and bring back…
Michael Atkinson leaves the U.S. Capitol south door.

Congress Should Take Steps to Protect the Independence of Inspectors General

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s assault on the federal government’s internal watchdogs -- the Inspector General (IG) community -- Congress should empower IGs with…
U.S. Army trainers instruct Iraqi Army recruits at a military base on April 12, 2015 in Taji, Iraq.

U.S. Security Aid Is a Faith-Based Policy

The US government requires more empirical evidence for aid to help improve livelihoods abroad than for financing weapons used to destroy them.
A temporary hospital is set up at the Jacob K. Javits Center on March 27, 2020 in New York. Cubicles with curtains are set up with a cot, a chair, a backpack, and a small garbage can each.

9/11 All Over Again

As in the days after 9/11, the current challenges stemming from COVID-19 seem unprecedented. But the parallels are striking.
Democratic presidential hopeful former US vice president Joe Biden participates in the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020.

Beware, Lobbyists: The Future of FARA Under a Biden Presidency

If Donald Trump loses the upcoming election in November, the Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) – the law that’s already tripped up numerous Trump…
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch (R-ID) (L) and ranking member Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

How Congress Can Save Lives, Protect Rights, and Exert U.S. Leadership Globally in Response to Coronavirus

Given the Trump administration’s foreign policy proclivities, it’s likely that Congress will have to do much of the heavy lifting.
US Christine Levinson (C), the wife of ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson, her son Daniel (L) and her sister Susan (R) hold a press conference at the Swiss embassy in Tehran

Iran’s Murder of an American, CIA Contractor Bob Levinson, Suggests Impunity at Home Too

In light of the internal power struggle that turned Levinson into a tragic pawn on the bureaucratic chessboard, fundamental questions remain unanswered.
Committee ranking member Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) talks with committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

Congress Must Insert Oversight of Intel Community in COVID Emergency Legislation

Governments often curtail individual liberties when faced with national or global emergencies. Unsurprisingly, one result of the COVID-19 pandemic is that governments around the…
A Lego Rube Goldberg machine at the Maker Faire 2009 in San Mateo, California.

Rube Goldberg and Military Justice

The decisional layer cake that Congress has put in place over the years, including on sexual assault, is rife with potential for yet more command influence.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) talk strategy before a news conference about their proposed reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. The senators are part of a bipartisan group that supports legislation they say would protect Americans from foreign threats while preserving their privacy.

A Chance to Fix FISA

"When Congress does finally take up the issue again, this most recent compromise bill will be the baseline for further improvements—and improvements are sorely needed."
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