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.
4,595 Articles
Declassification of the CIA interrogation program: Developments on three fronts
Last month I published a post setting forth the state of play regarding the declassification and disclosure of the executive summary, and findings and conclusions, of the Senate…
Taking on “Killer Robots”
New weapons that could revolutionize killing are on the horizon. Lethal autonomous weapons systems, also called fully autonomous weapons or “killer robots,” would go beyond…
Ending the Forever War: One Year After President Obama’s NDU Speech
Today, May 23, 2014, marks the one-year anniversary of President’s important speech at the National Defense University (NDU) setting forth his proposed framework for post-9/11…
NDAA Followup: Outcome on Amendments a Mixed Bag
Here’s a quick follow-up on what happened to the five proposed amendments to the House version of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that I flagged yesterday.…
David Barron and the OTHER missing memos
David Barron was just confirmed to the First Circuit. To secure that vote, the Administration announced it would not appeal the Second Circuit’s order to turn over a redacted…
Summary of Key Developments from Yesterday’s SFRC Hearing
[Editor’s Note: Nathalie Weizmann, an Associate Research Scholar and Senior Director of the Counterterrorism and Human Rights Project at Columbia Law School’s Human Rights…
Does the U.N. General Assembly have the authority to establish an International Criminal Tribunal for Syria?
By all accounts, the U.N. Security Council session this morning will not result in a referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Because Syria…
The one news item from today’s AUMF hearing
Consistent with the President’s recent War Powers reports, DOD General Counsel Stephen Preston confirmed that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is the only “associated…
Lavabit’s Owner Goes Public: His Legal Ordeal Makes For Bad Law
I’ve written several times here about the Department of Justice’s efforts to force secure email provider Lavabit to turn over its encryption keys. The DOJ wanted transactional…
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on the AUMF after Iraq and Afghanistan
This morning at 10:00am, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding an important hearing on the future of the AUMF after Iraq and Afghanistan. Testifying before the committee…
5 Key NDAA Amendments to Watch For
Congress is considering the National Defense Authorization Act this week, and several proposed amendments in the House to this annual authorization bill would have significant…
Judge Bates and FISA Reform
Over at Lawfare, I have a short post on the terribly weak provisions with regard to a “special advocate” to argue before the FISA Court in the Manager’s Amendment…