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.

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4,604 Articles
General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III testify on the department's fiscal year 2022 budget request during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2021.

The Ballooning Biden Defense Budget

There is a bipartisan path to cut unnecessary spending in the defense budget that protects U.S. security in a cost-effective way.
National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn testify during a hearing before Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee January 29, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

20 Years After the Patriot Act, America Must End Secret Law

Of the many abuses that sprung from the Patriot Act’s toxic soil, the most pernicious and enduring is the growth of secret laws. The insistence that the government must not only…
US President George W. Bush signs into law an anti-terrorism bill that expands police and surveillance powers in response to September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, 26 October 2001 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. With Bush from left to right are Rep. Mike Oxley, R-OH, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, Sen Pat Leahy, D-VT, Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI.

Rethinking Surveillance on the 20th Anniversary of the Patriot Act

20 years ago, Congress enacted the PATRIOT Act. It's time to move on from that outmoded model of surveillance.
The logos of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are seen on computer terminals in a training room of the Cyber Crimes Center of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement October 13, 2009 in Fairfax, Virginia.

Congress Debates Cyber Incident Reporting Deadlines in the NDAA

The next NDAA could require cyber incident reporting for critical cyber infrastructure owners and operators within 24 or 72 hours of the incident.
US government's special envoy for Western Balkans Matthew Palmer poses with members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency, Milorad Dodik, Zeljko Komsic, and Sefik Dzaferovic in Sarajevo on July 5, 2021 as Palmer held several meetings with national political leaders in Bosnia as well as state officials.

Peace Is Threatened Again in Bosnia, A Quarter Century after Dayton

Separatist provocations pose the greatest danger to the country's peace and cohesion since the accords were forged 26 years ago.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting about cybersecurity in the East Room of the White House on August 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. Members of the Biden cabinet, national security team and leaders from the private sector sit around long tables arranged in a circle or square attending the meeting about improving the nation's cybersecurity. Many of the chairs are socially distanced.

US Cybersecurity Has a Metrics Problem. Here’s How to Fix It.

Lawmakers have taken critical steps this year, but the lack of data makes it hard to know whether U.S. cybersecurity is actually improving.
Relatives gather to look at the dead bodies of ten people including children after a raid on their farms in Bariire, some 50 km west of Mogadishu, on August 25, 2017.

Insight Into Biden’s Counterterrorism Thinking Suggests More of the Same

Rather than rebrand painfully flawed approaches, the US must heed the calls and ideas of civil society, academics, and practitioners.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta arrive for a press conference on Civil Enforcement Action at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on September 9, 2021.

Reopen the Obstruction of Justice Case Against Trump

A key item in Attorney General Merrick Garland’s inbox is gathering dust: Volume 2 of the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose team investigated possible obstruction…
A relative of Ezmarai Ahmadi on September 18, 2021, inspecting the debris of a destroyed vehicle that was damaged in a US drone strike in the Kwaja Burga neighbourhood of Kabul.

The Overhyping of Over the Horizon

It might represent the only option for the US on terrorist threats from Afghanistan, but it will be brute, imperfect military force.
A dark wooden library with long tables with chairs and lamps for people to work at. People are scattered in seats along the tables. A book stands at the forefront of the photograph with a reading lamp above it.

Surveillance and Privacy Scholars: Four Things the Government Needs From You

Adam Klein, who recently served as Chair of Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), calls for specific lines of scholarly research and analysis.
A globe focusing on Central Asia.

Afghanistan: The Difficult Chapter Ahead

With nearly 30 years as a Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Munter maps internal difficulties to expect in US foreign policy post-Afghanistan and challenges to expect in South…
A soldier with a gun stands over debris during rescue efforts after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti and tropical storm Grace moves over Jamaica on August 17, 2021 in Les Cayes, Haiti. Destroyed homes are seen in the background behind the soldier.

Filmmaker: Ex-US Envoy’s Words Tell the Story of Our Lives in Haiti

Raoul Peck on Daniel Foote's call for the US to reset its policy and listen to the voices of Haitians trying to rebuild democracy.
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