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
France: The Dangers of Permanent Emergency Legislation
On July 18, the French Senate adopted a new law “To Strengthen Internal Security and the Fight Against Terrorism” (Projet de loi renforçant la sécurité intérieure et la…
How Obama’s Drones Rulebook Enabled Trump
In Trump’s New Drone Strike Policy: What’s Any Different? Why It Matters, Luke Hartig astutely flags some – but not all – of the key dangers in the Trump administration’s…
Three Half-Truths on U.S. Lethal Operations and Policy Constraints
Late last week, Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump might soon adopt a new policy on U.S. lethal operations outside hot warzones.…
What Does the New Travel Ban Say About Trump’s Relationship to Judges? Stay Tuned…
In coming days and weeks, much of the discussion about President Donald Trump’s new travel ban will focus on its similarities and differences from its predecessors and what those…
The New Entry Suspensions and Restrictions: A Synopsis (with Update on SG Letter to Court)
Based on my very quick and preliminary reading of the President’s new proclamation, below is my summary of who is affected. I’ll update and correct this post as warranted.…
Reminder: The “Travel Ban” Expires This Morning (Probably Ending the Case, At Least for Now)
By the time you read this, the heart of the so-called “travel ban” will probably be no more. Since June 29, the Executive branch, acting pursuant to Section 2(c) of…
What the FISA Warrants Against Paul Manafort Tell Us About Mueller’s Investigation
The Trump-Russia saga has more characters than War and Peace and plot twists harder to follow than Game of Thrones. So making sense of the latest news – that the FBI had…
What Does it Mean that Mueller Got a Warrant to Obtain Facebook Data?
The Wall Street Journal and CNN recently reported that Facebook provided data about Russian advertising purchases made in the run-up to the 2016 election to Special Counsel Robert…
Trump’s New Drone Strike Policy: What’s Any Different? Why It Matters
[Editor’s note: this article was originally published on September 21, 2017 at 9:50 PM] After months of continued tough talk and recent assurances that the United States…
Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Decision to Kill
The decision to kill other humans lies at the heart of concerns over Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS). Human judgment regarding whether lives will be taken and objects destroyed…
A Careless Attack on the UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria
Over on Lawfare, Lt. Col. Shane Reeves and Lt. Col. Ward Narramore have published a critique of the latest report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the…
Episode 37 of the National Security Law Podcast: Enemy Combatants, Agents of Foreign Powers
In this week’s episode, Bobby Chesney and I explore three big national security law developments from the past few days. First is that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court…