Congress
683 Articles
Benghazi Oversight: The Composition of the Select Committee
This post provides an initial assessment of the composition of the newly formed House Select Committee on Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. Over several…
Honor Roll of US Congressional Members Who’ve Stood for Accountability in Sri Lanka
I developed this list as an appendix to accompany the post, “Sri Lanka’s Greatest War Criminal (Gotabaya) is a US Citizen: It’s Time to Hold Him Accountable.” Please…
Letter to the Editor: Distinguishing Authorization and Appropriations Legislation
A recent post by Thomas Earnest about a drone casualty reporting provision in recent congressional legislation does something that is common in legal and popular discussion of…
Benghazi Oversight Updates: Of “Smoking Guns,” Judges & Committee Rifts
There have been a few developments over the last week in the ongoing congressional oversight activity related to the terrorist attack on U.S. personnel and facilities in Benghazi,…
The reorganization of Title 50 (and a note about Congress having exempted “intelligence activities” from statutes implementing treaties)
Perhaps I was the last to know, but I just discovered that the House Office of Law Revision has recently reorganized, into four new chapters, what had long been known as chapter…
New Statute Provides Amends to Foreign Civilians Killed by the United States – but only if they’re “friendly”
Earlier this month, Just Security published a guest post by Sahr Muhammedally outlining a new congressional statute whereby the Defense Department can now move ahead in establishing…
The Earth Moved – Senate Advice and Consent Granted to Fisheries Treaties
Readers may be interested to note that last week the Senate Committee Foreign Relations Committee provided its advice and consent to a small number of international treaties. The…
Hersh’s Syria Conspiracy Theory: The CIA and Intelligence Oversight Questions
In a previous post, I discussed the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the attack against U.S. facilities and personnel in Benghazi, Libya. That post contemplated bias by…
Civilian War Victims Receive Recognition in US Law
When the US military was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, it had no plan for addressing civilian casualties despite following rules prohibiting disproportionate or deliberate…
What to Listen for in Key Defense Hearings this Week
Congressional hearings this week will set the stage for the next and final two years of President Obama’s national defense policy. They should also begin to answer some big questions…
Benghazi Oversight: What New Congressional Reports Tell Us about Committee Clients
This week, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) issued a 31-page majority interim report on the September 11-12, 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. The HASC…
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…