Executive Branch
Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis of the U.S. executive branch related to national security, rights, and the rule of law. Analysis and informational resources focus on the executive branch’s powers and their limits, and the actions of the president, administrative agencies, and federal officials.
4,605 Articles
Prepare for the Worst and Fight for the Best: A Citizen’s Guide to 2020 Electoral Interference
"Keeping in mind that one of the most effective ways to neutralize covert activity is to expose it, we hope that assessing Russia’s potential next moves will empower the electorate,…
Don’t Blame Privacy for Big Tech’s Monopoly on Information
As the prospect of antitrust charges against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) looms larger, regulators should challenge the concentration of data within Big Tech…
At Least 15 Trump Officials Do Not Hold Their Positions Lawfully
As of September 2, there were at least 15 offices with acting officials even though the Federal Vacancies Reform Act time limit for those offices had expired.
Absentee Voting, the Military, and Our Democracy
States need significant additional federal funds to effectively implement voting by mail.
Whistleblower: DHS Suppressed Reports on Central America and Inflated Risk of Terrorist Border-Crossers
Brian Murphy’s Whistleblower complaint confirms: White House officials and political appointees in federal agencies hid carefully investigated and proven facts and substituted…
Dannehy Resignation Confirms Barr’s Intent to Use Durham Probe for Political Ends
Nora Dannehy's involvement in the Justice Department's Russia probe, being led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, gave the endeavor a veneer of legitimacy. Now, that is now gone.
Breaking: Colonel Montano, Extradited from the United States, Found Guilty of the Jesuits Massacre by Spanish Court
UPDATE: The judgment is available here (in Spanish). A Spanish court has convicted Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano for his role in the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests, their…
Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: End Endless War
For nearly 20 years, successive U.S. administrations have adopted a costly war-based approach to national security and counterterrorism policy that has no clear endgame in sight.…
Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Uphold the Prohibition on Torture
A full reckoning for state-sanctioned American torture remains unfinished. The Obama administration took important steps towards fulfilling US obligations but fell short of what…
Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: End Unlawful, Secret, and Unaccountable Use of Lethal Force
A core component of post-9/11 counterterrorism policy has been the use of secretive and unaccountable killings of terrorism suspects. The killings must stop. Here's how the president…
Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Close Guantanamo and End Indefinite Detention
Closing Guantanamo responsibly is not an intractable problem, the checkered history of prior efforts notwithstanding. It can be done, and in relatively short order, if decision-making…
Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Introduction
One year from today marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. A president addressing the nation on such a solemn occasion should be able to tell the American people not only that there…