Congress
683 Articles
Ten National Security Oversight Issues to Watch in 2016
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…
War: What Is It Good For? — Revisiting Strategic Questions Congress Should Ask in Debating an ISIL AUMF
As I revisited the series of 20 questions I recommended Congress consider in September 2014 regarding US strategy to combat the threat posed by ISIL, I remembered the advice an…
Rep. Schiff’s Newly-Proposed AUMF: Praise And A Caveat
Over at Lawfare, Jack Goldsmith praises Adam Schiff’s newly-proposed Consolidated Authorization to Use Military Force. With one important caveat (see below), we share in Jack’s…
The President’s NDAA signing statement re: GTMO and anti-torture provisions
The President today signed into law into law S. 1356, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. The good news is that Section 1045 of the NDAA in effect codifies…
History, Hysteria, and Syrian Refugees
A week after the ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris, American political hysteria is on full display. On Thursday, the House voted to tighten screening procedures on Syrian refugees;…
A False Choice on Guantánamo Closure
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…
Reminder: Tech Firms Aren’t Always the Privacy Advocates We’d Like to Think They Are
Last weekend, news broke that Facebook had been informally lobbying lawmakers to let them know the company didn’t oppose the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). The…
After the NDAA Veto: Now What?
This time, he’s serious. After all these years of unexecuted veto threats, on October 22, 2015, President Obama finally vetoed the $612 billion National Defense and Authorization…
The Obama Administration’s Misguided Opposition to Tariq Ba Odah’s Request for Judicial Relief
On October 15, a federal district court in Washington, DC, will hear argument in Ba Odah v. Obama, a habeas challenge by a Guantánamo detainee whose prolonged hunger strike has…
Too Much Posturing and Not Enough Substance on Encryption
Obama administration officials revealed late last week that will not force technology firms to weaken digital encryption to give government greater access to user data. This is…
Amid Calls for UN Investigation Into Kunduz Strike, US Senator Suggests that the UN Does Not Investigate Taliban Abuses. He’s Wrong.
Today, following calls for an independent inquiry into the US airstrike on the MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) – during a Senate Armed Services…
Congressional Due Process Failure: A Benghazi Example
The consequences of congressional scrutiny can be profound for the subjects of lawmakers’ investigations, yet the second Congress calls, almost none of the safeguards of the…