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
We Are Already in a State of Emergency
As Trump reissues his “lock her up” talk against Hillary Clinton and assaults the Justice Department, FBI, and media, the Brennan Center recently had a prescient meeting about…
Help Wanted: Custodians for the Rule of Law
A version of these remarks were delivered by Lisa Monaco at the University of Chicago Law School Diploma and Hooding Ceremony on June 10, 2017, where she also received the Distinguished…
Takeaways from this Week’s House AUMF Hearing—on Authorizing War Against ISIS
Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled “Authorization for the Use of Force and Current Terrorist Threats” was the latest in a string of recent developments concerning…
Top Middle East Advisor is Removed from the National Security Council
National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster has removed Derek Harvey, the top Middle East advisor on the National Security Council (NSC), from his post on Thursday, according…
We’ve Been Here Before: Discriminating Against Those Who Volunteer to Serve
On the anniversary of the day President Harry Truman desegregated the military, President Donald Trump announced, via Twitter, that the United States military would no longer welcome…
Why the U.S. needs the Office of Global Criminal Justice Led by a Senate-Confirmed Ambassador-at-Large
The survival of the State Department’s talented Office of Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) is at risk. Since 1997, this small but mighty team led by a Senate-confirmed Ambassador-at-Large…
The President’s Pardons Paradox: Granting Them Could Aid the Prosecution
It emerged late last week that President Trump has reportedly queried his lawyers regarding the nature and scope of his authority to pardon individuals including himself. Over…
If “Love” Knows No Bounds: On Criminal “Intent” and the Scope of Campaign Finance Law
If the Trump campaign solicited support from Russians in the race against Hillary Clinton, did it, or any of its staff, have the mental state required for prosecution under federal…
The Three Sessions Succession Scenarios
President Trump took to Twitter this morning ostensibly to defend his “beleaguered” Attorney General, even though at least some of that beleaguerment is, thanks to…
President Trump’s Unsurprising Endorsement of Illegal Solicitation–His 2016 Campaign Repeatedly Violated Ban on Soliciting Foreign Donations
It’s not surprising that President Donald Trump believes that “most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don Jr. attended in order to get info on an opponent”…
How the Prospect of Indictment Could Impact the President’s Decision Making
Over the weekend, the New York Times revealed that former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr concluded that it was “proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand…
Can Jared Kushner Be Impeached?
Overhanging Jared Kushner when he testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday is the threat of criminal prosecution – for alleged past behavior and for perjury…