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
What’s Actually New in the New Drone Strike & Military Force Disclosures?
Yesterday, President Barack Obama released a series of documents relating to the use of military force abroad, including a 66-page Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding…
The Economic Incentives for International Cybersecurity Coordination
On Friday, the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity published its final report, making 16 recommendations and identifying 53 action items to improve cybersecurity…
Muslim Terrorism Suspects and Public Support for Harsh Interrogation and Detention
What can social scientific evidence tell us about whether Americans are more likely to support harsh interrogation, prosecution, and detention policies if a detainee or suspect…
President Obama’s Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding and Limiting the Use of Military Force [UPDATED]
The Administration just released five new documents relating to the use of force, including detention, in counterterrorism operations against nonstate armed groups. The most important…
Memo to President Obama: You Have Another Memo to Withdraw
The election of Donald Trump has triggered an anxious conversation about how President Obama can entrench some of his accomplishments before January 21, 2017. Importantly, given…
Congress on Track to Extend Condolence Payments to Syrians
The Pentagon will soon have permission from Congress to make condolence payments to the families of civilians killed or injured by American airstrikes in Syria, as well as Iraq…
Rule 41 Has Been Updated: What’s Needed Next
On December, 1, the revised version of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 went into effect. The Department of Justice, which first proposed an earlier (and more expansive) version…
And Mattis Makes Four—Senior Policymakers in a Trump Administration Who Would Take a Hardline on Russia
Trump’s selection for Defense Secretary, retired General James N. Mattis, is the fourth in the line of senior policymakers who would presumably take a very different approach…
New Counterterrorism Program in Los Angeles: Suspicious Thought Reporting?
The FBI is teaming up with local police in Los Angeles to roll out a new approach to prevent domestic terrorism, called RENEW for “Recognizing Extremist Network Early Warnings.”…
The DoD Law of War Manual and the False Appeal of Differentiating Types of Civilians
In a recent speech at NYU, Department of Defense General Counsel Jennifer O’Connor suggested that after an impending revision, the US Law of War Manual would reflect the position…
Initial GTMO PRB decisions now completed, with 29 remaining uncharged and uncleared law-of-war detainees
Last week the Presidential Review Board issued the final two decisions from its initial hearings of remaining GTMO detainees who were not already charged or cleared for transfer:…
Two lingering concerns about the forthcoming Law of War Manual amendments
We commend Department of Defense General Counsel Jennifer O’Connor for her very important speech at NYU Monday evening—especially for her vivid, detailed account of how the…