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.
4,605 Articles
Iran Policy Implications of Replacing Tillerson with Pompeo and Cotton to CIA
The White House has created a plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and then nominate Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to replace Pompeo…
The Supreme Court May Be Ready to Further Limit Warrantless Access to Communications
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Carpenter v. United States, a case involving the privacy of cell phone location information. At issue is whether the government…
Don’t Fall for the Hype: How the FBI’s Use of Section 702 Surveillance Data Really Works
All the cool kids these days oppose the FBI’s so-called “backdoor search loophole,” which allows it to query information obtained under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence…
Episode 47 of the National Security Law Podcast: Donuts and Depth Charges
And…we’re back! Fresh off of Thanksgiving, Professor Chesney and I are (all too) fired up to discuss the latest national security law news (not to mention a bunch of stuff…
Where Does the Trump Administration Stand on Encryption?
The circumstances are familiar: a deceased criminal, a locked phone, a determined FBI and a defiant tech company. After Devin Kelley murdered 26 people at the Sutherland Springs…
Flynn’s Turkish Delight: How, Why, and When He Reversed His Policy Positions on Turkey
Many commentators anticipate that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will likely indict retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn in part for the former National Security Advisor’s…
Conference on Executive Branch Power, Washington DC, Tuesday Dec 5
On Tuesday, December 5, a collection of scholars and both current and former senior government officials are convening for a day in Washington to discuss Modern Executive Power…
Giving Thanks While Safeguarding Our Country’s Most Important National Security Assets
What are our country’s most important national security assets? While new weapons and hardware (drones, the latest fighter jet or technological wonder) receive a significant…
Trump’s Threat to Diversity Visas
Shortly after last month’s vehicle attack in Manhattan, President Donald Trump, in a tweet, called on Congress to eliminate the “Diversity Visa Lottery Program,” which has…
Extreme Vetting by Algorithm
Last week, a group of machine learning and data mining experts wrote to the acting secretary of DHS urging her to reconsider an automated Extreme Vetting Initiative being proposed…
Former Prosecutor Renato Mariotti’s Tweet Threads on National Security (Nov. 10-17)
Here is an exposition and analysis of some of this week’s national security-related threads authored by Just Security Editorial Board member and former federal prosecutor…
Kushner’s Unsatisfactory Senate Document Production
The most incendiary part of a stinging letter from Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to Jared Kushner’s counsel, Abbe Lowell, is the committee’s disclosure that “other…