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.

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4,757 Articles
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung talk to reporters before an Oval Office meeting at the White House on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. During Lee's first official visit to the White House, the two leaders are set to discuss trade and military cooperation to counter North Korea and China, South Korea's top trade partner. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Legal and Policy Options for a U.S-South Korea Nuclear Submarine Program

Trump’s announcement 'approving' a nuclear-powered submarine plan with South Korea contradicts U.S. law requiring specific terms, agreements, and congressional review.
The U.S. Supreme Court building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S.

A SCOTUS Bench Memo for Trump v. Slaughter, the FTC Removal Case: Stare Decisis, Historical Practice, and Original Intent

Trump’s attempt to fire FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter without cause forces the Court to revisit Humphrey’s Executor and the future of independent agencies.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.

U.S. Boat Strike Campaign: Questions Congress Should Ask Executive Branch Officials

A list of questions that should be answered by U.S. government officials regarding the lethal campaign against suspected drug trafficking individuals, groups, and vessels.

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The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part IV

Co-hosted with RCLS, a panel of experts discuss the Trump administration's continued campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers.
President Donald Trump meets with Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Saturday, February 22, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

What Tariffs and the Argentina Bailout Can Tell Us About the Perils of Financial Statecraft

When the U.S. doesn't appreciate the role of finance in geopolitics, it risks mismanaging its responsibilities—and in the process creating economic and political instability.
The Just Security Podcast Cover Image

The Just Security Podcast: Is there a Fox in the Henhouse? A Comparative Perspective of State Capture in the U.S.

Dani Schulkin is joined by Naomi Roht-Arriaza to discuss the warning signs of state capture and grand corruption, and what can be done to push back against it. 
U.S. President Donald Trump (C), Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (L), and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (R) sit behind a long table, smiling, as they hold up copies of the signed agreement in front of members of the press.

With New Transit Routes and Investment, the U.S. Aims to Counter China and Russia in the South Caucasus and Central Asia

How the U.S.-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal and the TRIPP trade route are reshaping Eurasia’s economic and security alliances, from the Caspian to Europe and beyond.
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) presides over the vote for H.R. 1, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act in the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on July 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. The House passed the sweeping tax and spending bill after winning over fiscal hawks and moderate Republicans. The bill makes permanent President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, increase spending on defense and immigration enforcement and temporarily cut taxes on tips, while at the same time cutting funding for Medicaid, food assistance for the poor, clean energy and raises the nation’s debit limit by $5 trillion. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

How to End the Shadow Budget and Protect Congress’s Power of the Purse

Unless Congress reasserts control over federal spending, the balance the framers designed could collapse into a self-financing presidency.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks down stairs

From Secret Law (2001-2024) to None at All (2025-present)

The Trump administration's lethal strikes are the apotheosis of the last quarter century's often always secret and often unreviewable executive branch legal reasoning.
Hungarian activists of the neo-Nazi Blood and Honour group hold flags in Budapest 11 February 2006 as participants bring wreaths at the tomb of Unknown Soldier in Heroes Square in Budapest where a German WWII helmet and wood cross were placed. More than 600 people attended the event to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the ill-fated escape attempt of Nazi German and Hungarian soldiers from Buda Castle, which was besieged 11 February 1945 by the Soviet Red Army at the end of World War II. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)

State Dept’s Foreign Terrorist Designations Undermine Claims of “Antifa” Threat

Leading counter-extremism expert unpacks the administration's claimed designation of "Antifa Groups"
Collage of Zuma, Rajapaksa and Bukele (L to R)

Is the U.S. Becoming a Captured State? A Comparative Perspective

Patterns of state capture in South Africa, El Salvador, Sri Lanka and Guatemala offer a cautionary guide for the United States.
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