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
Whistleblower Retaliation: A Governmental Accountability and National Security Crisis
The role of an Inspector General (IG) office in a federal agency or department is to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and where necessary refer criminal conduct to the Justice…
Holding the Federal Government in Contempt of Court: What Powers Do Judges Have Over an Administration?
Within a day of the Trump administration’s January 27 travel order, a U.S. district court ordered Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to permit lawyers access to certain detainees…
DO Believe the Hype: DHS’s “Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement” (VOICE) May Target Legal Immigrants Too
In his joint session to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump highlighted a new immigration policy, which many, many, many mistakenly assume applies only to undocumented…
What’s at Stake When Trump Discredits the Press
Donald Trump’s relentless media bashing has become one of the most persistent tropes of his cacophonous early time in office. He and his administration have called the press…
Five Reasons Why the Republican Russia “Investigation” Falls Short
Congressional Republicans’ responses to Russian attacks on the American political system have ranged from inadequate to damaging. Republican leadership seeks to bury this investigation…
Is the State Department Being Intentionally Gutted?
Amidst the public speculation of a State Department possibly in disarray, I know that officers at State are still hard at work. One example: I recently received in my email inbox…
Why You Should Doubt Reports that the First Amendment Would Protect Gen. Flynn from Prosecution under the Logan Act
The Logan Act, a 1799 federal law that makes it a federal felony for a private person to engage in international diplomacy in a way that undermines U.S. foreign policy, has recently…
When Federal Courts Subtweet Sean Spicer…
On any other Monday, in any other year, it’s hard to imagine that today’s 19-page ruling by Judge Oetken in Nicholas v. City of New York would merit much attention.…
Correcting the Record—Further Thoughts on the Intelligence Report on Civilian Casualties
In an exchange of posts over the past few weeks about the most recent casualty figures released by the Director of National Intelligence for theaters outside areas of active hostilities,…
Will the World be Silent in Face of the Rohingya Calamity?–The time has come for a UN Commission of Inquiry
In so many ways, Myanmar, also called Burma, has embarked on a strikingly successful political journey, aided in part by the international community with leadership from many States.…
A Look at the Case of the ex-CIA Officer Being Extradited to Italy for Her Role in a 2003 Rendition
A Gulfstream IV business jet similar to the one suspected of transporting Abu Omar during his rendition. (Eugene Butler/Wikimedia Commons) [This post has been updated to reflect…
Norms Watch: Tracking the Erosion of Democratic Traditions (Feb. 17-24)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…