Executive Power

Tracking the use of State power requires systematically identifying linkages between individual developments and broader trends. This interactive graphic offers one method.

Trump’s announcement 'approving' a nuclear-powered submarine plan with South Korea contradicts U.S. law requiring specific terms, agreements, and congressional review.

When the U.S. doesn't appreciate the role of finance in geopolitics, it risks mismanaging its responsibilities—and in the process creating economic and political instability.

Unless Congress reasserts control over federal spending, the balance the framers designed could collapse into a self-financing presidency.

The Trump administration's lethal strikes are the apotheosis of the last quarter century's often always secret and often unreviewable executive branch legal reasoning.

A mock “operational legal review” depicting what a staff judge advocate’s advice should have been prior to the first reported strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel.

Clearly, U.S. actions are threatening to Venezuela. But do they amount to an unlawful threat under international law, or are they merely a lawful show of force?

By enacting IEEPA, did Congress authorize the president to impose tariffs? If so does, is that delegation of authority lawful?

Congress did not write IEEPA to allow a President to replace the income tax system with a patchwork of tariffs that they can impose, adjust, or suspend at will.

Coverage of key developments, including in concise “What Just Happened” expert explainers, legal and policy analysis, and more. Check back frequently for updates.

The deal circumvents the Appropriations Clause and congressional safeguards designed to enforce it, creating a system answerable only to the White House.

The Supreme Court must not shirk its obligation to ensure that presidents cannot conscript the military in an effort to undermine democracy.