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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A mail ballot drop box is seen at a polling station on November 4, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.

What’s Conspicuously Missing from the Government’s Supreme Court Reply Brief in the Mail Ballots Case

The most noteworthy development of the past couple of days is what Solicitor General Sauer does not say.

9/11 Then and Now: How It Shapes Us 25 Years On

We asked experts with deep personal and professional ties to the post-9/11 era: how did 9/11 shape your path, and how does it continue to shape us 25 years later?

The Just Security Podcast: 9/11 at 25 Years: The State of U.S. National Security, Intelligence, and Alliances Today

Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman are joined by Daniel Fried and Nicholas Rasmussen to discuss the enduring impact of 9/11 on U.S. counterterrorism and foreign policy.
The U.S. Department of Justice Building on August 17, 2026 in Washington, DC.

What OLC’s Latest Opinion Means for Congressional Oversight of the Private Sector

Unpacking the Office of Legal Counsel opinion concluding that executive privilege may apply to presidential communications with private advisers.
In a tense-filled scene, six people are gathered on the far side of an oakwood-colored table scattered with papers and pens, a coffee dispenser and disposable cups in the foreground and a suited man standing in shadows at the back left. Rice has an expression of concern as she's looking to her left toward Cheney on the phone. Three of the other people around her, two women including Hughes and a man, stand around her and one man kneels to her right, all focused on the phone conversation Cheney apparently is having the the president.

A Quarter Century After 9/11: Lessons Learned and Lost

A former member of the George W. Bush administration’s National Security Council reflects on what the United States got right and wrong in its response to the 9/11 attacks.
The site of a strike on a girls' school in Minab, in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, on February 28, 2026

Just Security Podcast: Has the United States Violated the Law of Armed Conflict in the Iran War?

Host Ryan Goodman is joined by an expert panel to discuss whether the United States has violated the law of armed conflict in its war against Iran.
The USS Gravely, a US Navy warship, departs the Port of Port of Spain on October 30, 2025.

America’s War on Drug Smugglers at Sea Is Unlawful—and It Is Failing

U.S. strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels mark an unlawful expansion of military force into what has long been—and should remain—a law enforcement mission.

Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve

Collection of expert analysis on the legality of the U.S. strike on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean, the consequences of the strike, and related issues.
View of the judge's bench from the audience inside a federal courtroom in Federal District Court in Manhattan on June 6, 2025 in New York City.

What the Presumption of Regularity’s Erosion Means for Challenges to Executive Action

The erosion of the presumption of regularity presents opportunities to those challenging the Trump administration’s agenda in court.
The Washington Monument reflects in the Capitol Reflecting Pool at sunset on a warm evening on June 2, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability

This Anti-Corruption Tracker focuses on the erosion or dismantling of oversight and accountability systems within the United States Executive Branch.

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

Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Brian Finucane and Rebecca Ingber to discuss the latest U.S. strikes against suspected drug traffickers.
Illustration of hands typing on a keyboard with monitors displaying computer code in the background.

AI-Cyber Operations: A New Frontier for Public-Private Partnerships

For the United States to take the lead in AI cyber operations capabilities, government and industry must create appropriate safeguards.
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