Congress
683 Articles
Questions for Confirmation Hearings for Jeff Sessions as Attorney General
Attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions will face the Senate Judiciary Committee for two days’ worth of confirmation hearings, starting tomorrow at 9:30 am. Just Security’s…
The Troubling Application of the Political Question Doctrine to Congressional Force Authorizations
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Nov. 21 dismissed the suit brought by U.S. Army Captain Nathan Michael Smith challenging the legality of the military campaign…
Congressional Oversight in the Trump Era: Strategic Choices
Republican congressional leaders face stark strategic choices as Donald Trump assumes control of the White House. A period of acrimonious divided government will be supplanted…
Administrative Checks and Balances in the Trump Administration
Raise your hand if you went to bed Tuesday thanking James Madison for the gift of separation of powers. For years, scholars and pundits have resented that gift, railing against…
Is Throwing a Rock Through a Window “Terrorism”? Some Federal Prosecutors Think So
Image by Tomas Castelazo— Wikimedia Did you know that throwing a rock through the window of a Whole Foods could be punished as a federal crime of terrorism? An Assistant United…
The Terminology of War and the Consequences for Executive Power
Just Security has hosted a number of interesting exchanges over the last week concerning the international and political implications of identifying the existence of an armed conflict.…
Does JASTA Violate International Law?
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) is now the law of the United States, Congress having overridden President Obama’s veto of the bill. Among other things,…
Correcting the Record on Section 702: A Prerequisite for Meaningful Surveillance Reform, Part II
Last week, we argued that the public discussion surrounding two of the government’s most controversial mass surveillance programs – PRISM and Upstream – has not sufficiently…
No More Snowdens? Start by Reforming the House Intelligence Committee
Last Thursday, the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) issued a report condemning Edward Snowden and its members unanimously urged President Obama to decline public calls to grant…
The Saudi Weapons Block Wouldn’t be the First: Some Past Examples of Halts on US Arms Transfers
In the United States, concerns over the conduct of the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen have grown in intensity in recent weeks amid reports that US-supplied weapons have…
Correcting the Record on Section 702: A Prerequisite for Meaningful Surveillance Reform
The legal authority behind the controversial PRISM and Upstream surveillance programs used by the NSA to collect large swaths of private communications from leading Internet companies…
Does Operation Inherent Resolve set a troubling constitutional precedent?: Engaging with Goldsmith and Waxman
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…