The Law of Going to War with Iran, Redux
The Trump administration’s attack on Iran pushes even the executive branch’s generous understandings of the President’s legal authority to their limits.
El Mencho’s Death and the Kingpin Strategy Paradox
When cartel leaders are targeted, command structures break down and rivals jockey for influence.
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The Situation: Stand With Anthropic
You might not like the creator of Claude, but its fight with Pete Hegseth is important for the rule of law.
Pentagon’s Anthropic Designation Won’t Survive First Contact with Legal System
This is designation as political theater: a show of force that will not stick.
Lawfare Live: Anthropic Designated as a Supply Chain Risk
Watch the discussion at 3:30 PM ET on March 2.
Congress Enters the Chip Wars
The bipartisan AI OVERWATCH Act seeks oversight of advanced AI chips amid national security concerns.
Highlights
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The Law of Going to War with Iran, Redux
The Trump administration’s attack on Iran pushes even the executive branch’s generous understandings of the President’s legal authority to their limits. -
El Mencho’s Death and the Kingpin Strategy Paradox
When cartel leaders are targeted, command structures break down and rivals jockey for influence. -
The Situation: Stand With Anthropic
You might not like the creator of Claude, but its fight with Pete Hegseth is important for the rule of law. -
Pentagon’s Anthropic Designation Won’t Survive First Contact with Legal System
This is designation as political theater: a show of force that will not stick. -
Congress Enters the Chip Wars
The bipartisan AI OVERWATCH Act seeks oversight of advanced AI chips amid national security concerns. -
Ethiopia’s Troubled Peace
The government is picking favorites amid a split in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. -
The Week That Was
Your weekly summary of everything on the site. -
“Information Looking for People”
A review of Emily Baker-White, “Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok” (Norton, 2025). -
Can State Law Remedy Constitutional Violations by Federal Officers?
So-called converse 1983 statutes are percolating in statehouses across the country and could fill a critical constitutional gap. -
Is Claude Too Woke For War?
The latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, now on Lawfare. -
The Situation: What Federal Judges Are Saying
Selected quotations from recent federal court orders. -
Fighting AI Cyberattacks Starts With Knowing They’re Happening
As AI accelerates cyber operations, the United States must build new mechanisms to detect, investigate, and learn from attacks driven by emerging capabilities. -
The Paranoid Style in American Oversight, Part I
Senator Grassley’s account of how and why the FBI investigated Trump’s role in the false electors plot is a feat of political conspiracy. -
State of the Union 2026: National Security Excerpts
A roundup of foreign policy and national security statements from Trump’s second address to Congress since taking office again. -
What the Defense Production Act Can and Can’t Do to Anthropic
The legal answer depends on what the government is actually demanding—and the statute's ambiguities cut both ways.
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Featured Podcast
Live Coverage
For real-time updates of Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump administration’s legal challenges, follow on Bluesky or below:
What's Old Is New Again
With every new administration comes new promises and new actions on national security. But what’s “new” has often been proposed or even tried before—which means there’s a good chance Lawfare has already analyzed some of the legal and policy implications they present. So we’re making that past content readily accessible as it becomes newly relevant.
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Using Force Against Mexican Drug Cartels: Domestic and International Law Issues
Executive branch lawyers could argue that using force against cartels would be consistent with past presidential uses of force, but it would be very difficult to defend under international law. -
My Lloyd Cutler Rule of Law Lecture: "Law and the Use of Force: Challenges for the Next President"
Read John Bellinger's Lloyd Cutler Lecture on Rule of Law at the Supreme Court. -
Lawfare Daily: DOGE’s Attack on the Treasury Department
Why is it so alarming to have political appointees accessing BFS systems?
Documents
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White House Submits Iran War Powers Report to Congress
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Supreme Court Rules Against Trump’s Emergency Power Tariffs
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Fulton Co. Election Office Search Warrant Affidavits Made Public
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Trump Administration Releases 2026 National Defense Strategy
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Trump Administration Releases Legal Opinion on Maduro Capture, Attacks on Venezuela
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Sen. Kelly Sues Department of Defense Over Disciplinary Actions
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Trump Orders U.S. Withdrawal from International Organizations and Treaties
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Justice Department Unseals Superseding Indictment in Maduro Case
The Lawfare Podcast 
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Lawfare Daily: The Pentagon Designates Anthropic as a Supply Chain Risk
What has been the reaction to the designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk? -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, Feb. 27
Listen to the Feb. 27 livestream as a podcast. -
Lawfare Daily: Patronage Pardons: A Conversation with Prof. Lee Kovarsky about a Novel Feature of the Trump Administration
What are patronage pardons?
Other Lawfare Podcasts
Other Podcasts
Videos & Webinars
Lawfare Live: Anthropic Designated as a Supply Chain Risk
Watch the discussion at 3:30 PM ET on March 2.
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Hard National Security Choices
Lawfare is a non-profit multimedia publication dedicated to “Hard National Security Choices.” We provide non-partisan, timely analysis of thorny legal and policy issues through our written, audio, and other content—all of which you can find here.
