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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4,605 Articles
A map of France with binary computer code.

France’s Major Statement on International Law and Cyber: An Assessment

Leading expert on international law and cyberspace assesses major new position staked out by French government.
Protestors led by a coalition of interfaith religious leaders demonstrate against US immigration policy that separates parents from their children, June 23, 2018 outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. A sign reads, “Stop caging families,” and many protestors wear shirts reading, “& Vote.”

Fear and Loathing on the Border: A First-Hand Look at the Travesty

Far from the loophole-ridden sieve described by the administration, the asylum system we saw was a Kafka-esque labyrinth designed to punish migrants who dare to exercise their…
Yemeni graffiti artists paint tally marks on a damaged building that was hit by a previous air strike, during a campaign called 'Shrapnel' in the capital Sanaa on June 23, 2018.

The UN Report and Indiscriminate Attacks in Yemen

The UN Group makes a number of important legal findings, a leading international humanitarian law expert discusses.
An ICE agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and police lights in the background.

If National Security Was Driving Immigration Arrests, Employers Would be Charged Too

Since 2014, across the country, there have been no more than 200 prosecutions for alleged violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1324a, the law that makes hiring undocumented immigrants illegal.
Yemeni fighters loyal to the country's exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi ride a tank past a destroyed building during clashes with Shiite Huthi rebels in the country's third-city of Taez on May 30, 2019.

The UN Yemen Report and Siege Warfare

Following the UN Human Rights Council report on Yemen, experts provide detailed analysis of how international humanitarian law rules on starvation, proportionality, and precautions…
Side by side images of a man leaving flowers at a memorial near the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where 23 people were killed in a mass shooting on August 16, 2019, and flowers and messages placed on the Lakemba Mosque wall in tribute to the victims of the Christchurch attacks on March 22, 2019 in Sydney, Australia.

18 Years After 9/11, We Face a New International Terrorist Threat

"We as a society should be talking about a new form of international terrorism—white supremacist terrorism—rather than insisting on calling it 'domestic terrorism.'"
Mike Pence and Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Trump and Giuliani’s Quest for Fake Ukraine “Dirt” on Biden: An Explainer

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence last week gave an odd response to a question about whether the United States is withholding $250 million of aid for Ukraine until that country helps…
A graphic details information that goes into the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) and informs other databases. Two way arrows are shown connecting the following information and the TSDB. Visas, government benefits, borders, airlines, state and local police, passports, firearms, hazmat, port workers, and special events.

Why a Judge’s Terrorism Watchlist Ruling is a Game Changer: What Happens Next

Leading expert and author of a book on the subject, Jeffrey Kahn explains what happens now that a court declared a major terrorist watchlist unconstitutional.
: Beau Depalo, 3, hugs his father, SSgt Michael Depalo of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, during a homecoming ceremony at Campbell Army Airfield on March 21, 2015 in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 162 soldiers who returned to Fort Campbell are some of the last to come home from a humanitarian deployment to Liberia in West Africa to fight the spread of the Ebola virus.

Funding the Border Wall Will Diminish Quality of Life for Service Members–Here’s How

Last May, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) filed an amicus brief in the border wall litigation – El Paso v. Trump – on behalf of military service members. In…
U.S. and Polish forces participate in a simulated tank battle during the "Tank Battle" event held at Below Piskie Training Area, July 13.

Trump Cuts “Muscle” from European Defense to Fund Border Wall

The Trump administration is taking $770 million from the European Deterrence Initiative, a program created to shore up European defense after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent checks an overseas visitor's fingerprints and image in a database January 5, 2004 at JFK airport in New York City.

Q&A on Court Decision Invalidating Administration’s Terrorism Watchlist

Expert Backgrounder on the big questions coming out of the court's ruling. The case involved US citizens. How might the ruling affect foreign nationals? What were the judge's key…
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) (L) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) share an elevator as they head for the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol October 02, 2018 in Washington, DC.

How the GOP’s Internal Politics of Raiding Military Construction Projects Will Play Out

Former Pentagon/National Security Council official Luke Hartig analyzes Secretary Esper's plan and how it may play out with specific members of Congress.
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