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.
4,597 Articles
Guest Post: Drone Courts–A Response to Professor Vladeck
Editors’ note: In this post, Professors Brand, Guiora, and Barela reply to Steve Vladeck’s December 2 post, “Drone Courts: The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem,”…
The Washington Post Editorial Board’s (mis)conception of Congress’s role in war authorizations
In Monday’s Washington Post, the editorial board called for the next Congress to prioritize passage of an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) against ISIL, but also…
The Unintended Consequences of the 2001 AUMF Sunset
I join Ryan Goodman in applauding the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under the strong leadership of its Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and many others…
The Cost-Benefit Analysis: The Preventive Value of the Senate Torture Report
Amidst the full-throated defense of the CIA’s interrogation tactics (see, e.g., Cheney – “I’d do it again”), the President’s refusal to state whether or not abusive…
CIA Director Brennan’s Comment on the Torture Report, and Senator Feinstein’s Reply to Brennan
CIA Director John Brennan spoke today about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the interrogation program run by the CIA after September 11th. His remarks are available…
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves ISIL AUMF and Sunset of 2001 AUMF
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a draft authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against ISIL (full text) by a margin of 10-8 along party…
Big News: US Closes Bagram Detention Facility
Big news out of Afghanistan—the United States has closed the detention facility at the Bagram Airfield. The last two prisoners were turned over to Afghan authorities on December…
The Torture Report and the “Glomar Fig Leaf”
The Glomar Explorer, the CIA ship after which the much-abused legal doctrine is named Buried in the SSCI’s report is an arresting passage that suggests that the CIA was quietly…
Guest Post: They Knew It Was Illegal
The Senate Intelligence Committee report released December 9 confirms many already-reported facts about the CIA torture program, including the agency’s use of brutal stress positions,…
State Responsibility and Reparation for Torture as a Violation of IHL
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) yesterday released the redacted executive summary of its report on the CIA’s rendition, detention and interrogation program.…
Torture: Unreliable and Inestimably Costly
A few years ago, I served as a member of the Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment – an 11-member, bi-partisan group of former, high-ranking officials in…
A Guantánamo (Numerical) Milestone, and What It Means…
Although public and media attention has been, understandably, focused on this morning’s release of the SSCI Torture Report, another piece of national security-related news…