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
The Downward Spiral
Last week, I questioned whether President Donald Trump might have potentially engaged in the obstruction of justice when he fired then-FBI Director James Comey. Yesterday, another…
Why Trump’s Disclosure to Russia (and Urging Comey to Drop the Flynn Investigation, and Various Other Actions) Could Be Unlawful
President Trump’s disclosure of highly classified information about the Islamic State to Russian officials has been widely decried as “terrifying,” “reckless,” and “deeply…
Assessing the Damage of the President’s Intelligence Sharing with Russia
Following the Washington Post’s revelations Monday night, the legality of President Donald Trump’s decision to share sensitive information related to the ISIS bomb threat to…
A Prosecutor’s View: The Evidence of Trump’s Obstruction is Now Compelling
There has been considerable discussion over the last week about whether President Donald Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice when he fired James Comey as director…
Don’t Be So Quick to Call Those Disclosures “Legal”
Following multiple reports that President Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian officials at a private meeting, various legal experts have asserted that Trump…
The Comey Memorandum and the Take Care Clause
Last week, President Trump created another firestorm when he fired James Comey as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On Tuesday, several news organizations…
The Flagrant Foul in Trump’s Disclosure of Classified Info to Russia: The Missing Interagency Process
It was a far more effective strategy for the White House not to deny the facts of the Washington Post report that the president had disclosed information to Russia, but instead…
Five Takeaways from Gen. H.R. McMaster Press Briefing
Here are five key points made by Gen. H.R. McMaster in the press briefing held on Tuesday morning. 1. McMaster said that what President Donald Trump did was “wholly appropriate”…
Just How Sensitive Was the Information Trump Reportedly Revealed to the Russians?
Given today’s bombshell report by the Washington Post claiming President Donald Trump revealed classified information relating to the Islamic State to senior Russian officials…
National Security-Related Congressional Hearings, May 15-19
Tuesday, May 16 10:00am – Senate Committee on Foreign Relations – Business Meeting (here) 2:30pm – Senate Committee on Intelligence – Intelligence Matters (Closed) (here)…
The Trump Administration’s Early (Appropriate) Focus on Botnets
President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Cybersecurity, concentrating as it does on things largely within the authority of the executive branch, is a reasonable early approach…
UAE, a Key US Partner in Yemen, Implicated in Detainee Abuse
One of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s regrettable statements during the Iraq war was his infamous response to an Army specialist asking about the lack of armor for military…