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.
4,841 Articles
The Moral Cost of Killing on Command
The U.S. government has a special responsibility to not impose avoidable harm to those who will carry out Nidal Hasan's execution.
Guantanamo Dispatches: Pentagon Reducing Rank of Top Military Commission Lawyers
An order from Secretary Hegseth will lower the ranks of the top two Guantanamo military commission lawyers starting in January.
Prize Courts Are Still Good Law. That Doesn’t Make Them a Good Idea.
The proposed revival of prize courts to seize Iranian oil vessels rests on a misunderstanding of the courts' historical purposes and the nature of modern naval warfare.
Guantanamo Dispatch: All Four Defendants’ Confessions Are Now Suppressed in the 9/11 Case
A military judge on Wednesday threw out the last disputed confession in the case against the suspected 9/11 plotters at Guantanamo Bay.
Boots Off Ballots: Troops and Elections, In Practice
Soldiers should always remember that in a democracy, any domestic deployment order given on or around an election is suspect.
Collection: Just Security 2026 Midterm Election Analysis and Commentary
This collection brings together analysis of the legal and policy issues surrounding the 2026 U.S. midterm elections published on Just Security.
The 9/11 Military Commission and Lessons of Recent History
The rulings that the accused 9/11 plotters' confessions are inadmissible are a reminder that the U.S. government fares better when it abides by the law.
Key Takeaways from Suncor v. Boulder Oral Argument: Jurisdiction, Preemption, and the Proper Role of State Tort Law in Addressing Climate Change
What we learned from oral arguments in the most important climate liability case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in more than a decade.
Why the U.S. Must Prepare for Rapid Global Population Aging – and How
The United States lacks a strategy and coordinated agency efforts to adapt foreign and security policy to the rapid aging of the global population.
No Emergency Exception: The Ban on Troops at the Polls Was Built for Crises
Section 592 unmistakably conveys Congress’s intent to bar any kind of military interference in American elections.
Just Security’s Climate Archive
A catalog of articles analyzing the diplomatic, political, legal, security, and humanitarian consequences of the international climate crisis.
Guantanamo Dispatch: Another Confession Is Ruled Inadmissible in 9/11 Case
A military judge has thrown out the confessions of Mustafa al-Hawsawi, a capital defendant in the 9/11 case at Guantanamo Bay.