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.
4,711 Articles
Trump’s Moves Are Right Out of the Authoritarian Playbook
Trump's recent actions may be of a man fearful of looking weak to the world, but they are also redolent of how authoritarian regimes in countries the world over have responded…
The President and the Domestic Deployment of the Military: Answers to Five Key Questions
Can President Trump use the military without governors' consent? What are the rules for the use of force?
A Bipartisan Push in Congress to Fight the ‘Parallel Pandemic’ of Human Rights Abuses Abroad
Legislation would improve US support to rights defenders, journalists, and marginalized groups fighting authoritarian abuses of emergency powers abroad.
Don’t Let Trump Say the “American Carnage” of 2020 is What He Claimed in 2016. It’s Not.
The violence we’re seeing right now is not the so-called “American carnage” President Trump described in 2016 as he simultaneously claimed only he could lead the country…
Far-Right Infiltrators and Agitators in George Floyd Protests: Indicators of White Supremacists
Evidence points to specific White Supremacist and far-right groups having infiltrated George Floyd protests, writes scholar of violent extremism, Georgia State University professor…
Understanding the Michael Flynn Case: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff, and the Proper from the Improper
What follows is an effort to identify and evaluate many of the most important aspects of the Flynn affair, roughly in chronological order from the Summer of 2016 to today.
State’s Selective Cooperation with Congress Raises Legal Questions that Demand Answers
The State Department appears to be engaged in coordinated cooperation with an oversight investigation designed to harm Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, while ignoring…
Leading the Intelligence Community Will Be a Test for Ratcliffe
Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) was confirmed last Thursday as President Donald Trump’s top intelligence adviser in a party line Senate vote, putting an inexperienced and highly…
What a “Feminist” Approach to Fighting COVID-19 Might Have Achieved
Imagine a global security structure based on principles of cooperation, human security, pragmatism, transparency, and inclusivity.
Nuclear Arms Control, or a New Arms Race? Trump Seems Bent on the Latter.
More ambitious talks with the Russians and Chinese are a laudable goal. But they can be pursued smartly and without unnecessarily high risk.
The President’s Inversion of the Government’s Ethical Conduct Standards, Right Before Americans’ Eyes
The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (Standards of Conduct) on this topic could not be clearer, and the president's statements contradicting those…
To Fix the COVID-19 Testing Gap, Take a Lesson from GM (or the Pentagon)
The chaotic state of the current COVID testing marketplace is a direct impediment to outbreak control and economic recovery. The federal government should engage in the testing…