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.
4,757 Articles
Norms Watch: Damage to Democracy and Rule of Law in December 2018
Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of those norms in reactions…
Give Up the Ghost: A Backdoor by Another Name
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ,) the UK’s counterpart to the National Security Agency (NSA), has fired the latest shot in the crypto wars. In a post to Lawfare…
New Year Thoughts on the Role of Chief of Staff and Trump White House Dysfunction
The White House chief of staff position is again in transition. It is the top staff job in government — a momentous position that merits a broad look at its roles and responsibilities.…
New Approach After Charlottesville Violence Protects Public Safety While Preserving Rights
When right-wing nationalists try to weaponize the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, states can use their own constitutional and statutory provisions to prohibit private…
Getting Over the Wall
"The Wall is not the border security panacea that warrants the zero-sum brinkmanship that holds the federal workforce as a hostage."
What’s Noticeably Missing from the Whitaker Nonrecusal Explanation
The Department of Justice issued a letter yesterday explaining why Matthew Whitaker has decided he won’t recuse from superintending the Russia Investigation overseen by Special…
A First Take on Bill Barr’s Memo on Presidential Authority and the Mueller Investigation
"It’s not hard to summarize Barr’s views because they're so shockingly categorical and so extreme."
U.S. Air Strike Data from Afghanistan Takes Step Back in Transparency
The U.S. military has stopped publishing important information on its air war in Afghanistan, just two months after deciding to release it. In October, the U.S. began publishing…
Why New Laws Aren’t Needed to Take Domestic Terrorism More Seriously
Congress has given DOJ officials plenty of tools to attack far-right violence. They just require the will to use them.
The Senate Strikes Back: Checking Trump’s Foreign Policy
Though the Senate vote on cessation of military assistance for the Saudi War in Yemen will have no practical effect – the House of Representatives will not take up the matter…
The Death of Article II Treaties?
Until recently, Article II treaties have played a meaningful role in U.S. foreign relations law and policy. That no longer seems to be the case.
Why It Doesn’t Matter Whether It’d Be Constitutional to Indict Trump
Lederman writes that so much of the public discussion is a distraction from Mueller's greatest value: determining if President Trump is compromised by Moscow, thus preventing the…