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The Supreme Court’s Ballroom Non-Decision
The Court avoided the merits of Trump’s ballroom fight by leaning on aesthetic standing—and left the doctrine murkier than before.
Governance by Shakedown
How the administration converts legal pretexts into coercive leverage—and why the tactic works even when courts say no.
Lawfare Live: Supreme Court Allows White House Ballroom Construction to Continue
Watch the live discussion at 11am ET on September 1.
White House Unveils Program to Authorize Private-Sector Cyber Surveillance and Disruption Operations
The Aug. 12 presidential memorandum directing the creation of a private-sector hacking program raises novel questions for participants.
The “GEC Files” Don’t Show a Censorship Operation
The State Department promised proof of a vast censorship scheme. The documents Sarah Rogers released show something else entirely.
The First Amendment Problems With Meta’s $17 Billion Deal
Meta's settlement includes some social media speech restrictions that states can't directly impose.
Understanding Al-Shabaab’s Recruitment Pipeline
Members’ motivations are changing, and the approach of counter-recruitment programs must respond.
Join the Lawfare Team
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Donate today!Highlights
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The Supreme Court’s Ballroom Non-Decision
The Court avoided the merits of Trump’s ballroom fight by leaning on aesthetic standing—and left the doctrine murkier than before. -
Governance by Shakedown
How the administration converts legal pretexts into coercive leverage—and why the tactic works even when courts say no. -
White House Unveils Program to Authorize Private-Sector Cyber Surveillance and Disruption Operations
The Aug. 12 presidential memorandum directing the creation of a private-sector hacking program raises novel questions for participants. -
The “GEC Files” Don’t Show a Censorship Operation
The State Department promised proof of a vast censorship scheme. The documents Sarah Rogers released show something else entirely. -
The First Amendment Problems With Meta’s $17 Billion Deal
Meta's settlement includes some social media speech restrictions that states can't directly impose. -
Understanding Al-Shabaab’s Recruitment Pipeline
Members’ motivations are changing, and the approach of counter-recruitment programs must respond. -
The Week That Was
Your weekly summary of everything on the site. -
Invisible Source Skew
Our information flows aren’t just threatened by slop or foreign actors. They're being reshaped by invisible decisions from AI companies. -
Student Contributor Program Applications Are Now Open
Are you a current student interested in writing and researching for Lawfare? Join our Student Contributor Program for the 2026-2027 academic year! -
U.K. Supreme Court Opens Door for Spyware Victims to Sue Foreign States
The Kingdom of Bahrain cannot claim immunity from a suit by exiled dissidents over harm caused by spyware surveillance on U.K. soil. -
Program Assistant, Artificial Intelligence
The Lawfare Institute—publisher of information and insight at the intersection of national security, law and policy—seeks a motivated full-time program assistant for our AI Research Program -
China's AI-Enabled APT Operations Are Getting Interesting
The latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, now on Lawfare. -
The Boat Strikes Aren’t Part of a War. They’re Murder.
By debating war powers and war crimes, Congress is missing the simpler, graver truth: The president is directing summary executions. -
The Church Bells Still Ring
A year after the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting, an examination of faith and fidelity to nothing. -
Replacement Through Knowledge Acquisition
Remedying the risk of RKA to enterprises dependent on frontier AI.
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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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The Return of Schedule F
The Trump administration has proposed new rules to remove due process protections for thousands of federal employees. -
Donald Trump and the Department of Justice
On the loyalty of lawyers and the attitude of voters -
Trump’s Attacks on Justice Department Independence, Then and Now
What the first Trump administration carried out slowly, the new administration is doing at once.
Documents
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White House Releases Executive Order Declaring a National Emergency Regarding the Electrical Grid
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White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy
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Justice Department Releases Opinion on Military Arrests Near Borders
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White House Releases Executive Orders on Quantum Computing
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White House Releases Executive Order on AI
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Former Cuban President Raúl Castro Indicted
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Trump Administration Releases 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy
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Southern Poverty Law Center Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges
The Lawfare Podcast 
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Lawfare Daily: How Terrorist Groups are Using Artificial Intelligence
Discussing the risk of catastrophic AI-enabled terrorism. -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, August 28
Listen to the August 28 livestream as a podcast. -
Lawfare Daily: Israel's Most Consequential Election, with Natan Sachs
Other Lawfare Podcasts
Other Podcasts
Videos & Webinars
Lawfare Live: Supreme Court Allows White House Ballroom Construction to Continue
Watch the live discussion at 11am ET on September 1.
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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.
