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.
4,623 Articles
UK Court Rules against Alleged Pakistani Drone Victim (Noor Khan)
The United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal has issued its judgment in Khan v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (full text). A Pakistani man brought a civil action…
POTUS’ view on who counts as Al Qaeda
David Remnick’s recent profile/interview of the President in the New Yorker reveals this telling view of how the Administration perceives the difference between core Al Qaeda…
Which Congressional NSA Reform Proposals Will the Obama Administration Now Support?
A lot of my reactions to yesterday’s surveillance reform speech by President Obama have already been captured by others, including David Cole in his thoughtful take over…
Gates v. Biden on Afghanistan: What the Media Coverage Doesn’t Tell You
Robert Gates’s Duty contains a more nuanced account of his discord with Joe Biden on Afghanistan policy than any coverage of the book that you have likely read, seen or heard.…
The Disconnect between Theory and Practice in Obama’s NSA Speech
I have a post on Foreign Policy arguing that there was a substantial disconnect between theory and practice in President Obama’s NSA speech yesterday. On the one hand, President…
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…