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.
4,594 Articles
Friday Evening Document Dump: DNI Declassifies Host of Additional FISC Orders
Late this afternoon, the DNI declassified two dozen FISC orders related to the collection and use of telephony metadata under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. In today’s…
Overview of Proposals to Reform Signals Intelligence Programs in Today’s Speech by the President
In today’s speech on Signals Intelligence Programs, President Obama outlined a number of “concrete and substantial reforms that [the] Administration intends to adopt…
President Obama Speaks on Intelligence Reforms [Updated with full text of speech]
Starting now, President Obama is delivering his highly anticipated speech addressing the proposed reforms to the U.S. intelligence programs recommended in the Report of the President’s…
Bob Gates, Disclosure & Executive Privilege
Former Secretary Bob Gates ignited a brushfire of criticism for the timing, disclosures, and motivations of his new book, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. Much of the reporting…
Senate Intelligence Committee Releases Benghazi Report
This morning the Senate intelligence committee released its long-delayed report on the attack of the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. The report, which includes a…
Michael Morell: “There is Quite a Bit of Content in Metadata”
In case you missed it earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Report of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies…
Senate Judiciary Hearing on the Report of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies
HAPPENING NOW: the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the Report of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies (the PRGICT…
Gates vs. Gates
A good discussion is emerging about whether former SecDef Robert Gates’ new book Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War involves ethical breaches. The concerns raised involve Gates’…
New Report Questions Value of Section 702 Warrantless Surveillance
Today over at the New America Foundation, researchers have published a paper examining the role of dragnet programs in the United States’ counterterrorism operations. The paper…
A Guide to Revelations in Robert Gates’ Book (Duty): The Obama Years
Robert Gates’ memoir, Duty, which will be released later this week, contains significant insights into US foreign policy and international affairs affecting our country’s national…
Connecting the Dots: Assessing the Effectiveness of Bulk Phone Records Collection
[Editor’s note: This morning we are enthusiastic to have the opportunity to publish on Just Security an extremely insightful and thoughtful paper on the effectiveness of…
After the AUMF: Iraq and Al Qaeda Redux
Over at Lawfare, Jack Goldsmith takes quite a different lesson from the push to repeal of the 2002 Iraq AUMF than Steve and I suggested here. In Jack’s view, the administration…