Anna Bower and Molly Roberts explained that the Trump administration’s possible invocation of a national security emergency to justify sweeping federal control over U.S. elections would likely raise constitutional conflicts and fail under legal scrutiny.
Renée DiResta unpacked five debunked foreign interference conspiracy theories from the 2020 presidential election, ranging from Venezuelan-controlled voting machines to counterfeit bamboo ballots from overseas. DiResta warned that these theories may be revived to justify greater federal control over future elections.
On Lawfare Daily, Benjamin Wittes sat down with Roger Parloff, Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Troy Edwards, and Roberts to discuss the legal challenges against the sale of TikTok to U.S. investors, updates in the litigation over the FBI’s seizure of ballots from a Fulton County election office, contempt hearings against the government in Minnesota, and more.
Also on Lawfare Daily, Peter Beck sat down with Seamus Hughes and Jacob Ware to discuss the FBI’s classification of nihilistic violent extremism as a category of terrorism, the online terror group “764,” rising challenges to traditional counterterrorism approaches, and more.
Again on Lawfare Daily, Matthew Olsen joined Wittes to discuss the terrorist threat from Iran, the U.S.’s lack of preparedness to respond after firings at the FBI and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and the pending lapse of the FISA 702 program.
And once more on Lawfare Daily, Anastasiia Lapatina sat down with Fabian Hoffman and Pavlo Litovkin to discuss what the U.S. and its allies can learn from Ukraine in rethinking its air defense amidst the war with Iran.
Geoffrey S. Corn and Claire O. Finkelstein argued that the Senate’s failure to restrict President Trump's authority after the strikes against Iran runs afoul of the War Powers Resolution, which requires express authorization from Congress for initiating hostilities absent an attack on the U.S.
On Rational Security, Scott R. Anderson sat down with Kate Klonick, Roberts, and Edwards to unpack the threat of Iranian terrorism against the U.S., Anthropic’s civil complaint and petition for appeal against the Department of Defense’s designation of the artificial intelligence (AI) company as a supply chain risk, the federal investigations into claims of election fraud during the 2020 presidential election, and more.
Wittes offered suggestions to refine Anthropic’s complaint in its lawsuit against the Defense Department’s designation after the company restricted the use of its Claude AI model from lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance of Americans.
Beck shared Anthropic’s civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Defense Department over the supply chain risk designation.
Anna Hickey shared Anthropic’s petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of the Defense Department’s designation under the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Administration Procedures Act, and statutory authority limitations.
Jessica Tillipman argued that the U.S. military’s increasing use of procurement contracts to govern its AI use is inadequate and leaves unanswered questions about domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons, democratic accountability, and more.
Scott Sullivan argued that policymakers should consider AI in the military as an abnormal technology—diffusing unevenly amongst civilian and military sectors—because competitive incentives, externalized costs, and operational secrecy pushes military AI to develop faster than AI governance.
On Lawfare Live, Wittes sat down with Parloff and Klonick to discuss Anthropic’s legal challenges to the Defense Department supply chain risk designation, challenges to the legality of certain U.S. attorneys, litigation over the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and more.
Michael R. Dreeben analyzed the Supreme Court’s decision striking down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), highlighting unresolved questions about delegation, emergency powers, foreign affairs authority, and a broader dispute over how courts should protect Congress’s policymaking role against expanding presidential power.
Stratos Pahis argued that the delay from the courts in stopping Trump’s tariffs under IEEPA has caused lasting harm to consumers, the U.S. economy, and U.S. credibility with allies.
On Lawfare Daily, Charles Lister joined Anderson to talk about the transitional government in Syria, its relationship with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the impending withdrawal of U.S. troops after more than a decade in the country, and more.
In the latest edition of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Daniel DePetris explained how the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes—otherwise known as “El Mencho” and the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel—marks a major tactical success for U.S.-Mexico relations, but is unlikely to lighten pressure on the Mexican government’s war against the cartels.
In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren unpacked Trump’s newly released National Cyber Strategy, the misuse of privately developed cyber espionage kits by adversaries, and more.
Aaron R. Cooper, Philip Chertoff, and Shoba Pillay argued that Trump’s National Cybersecurity Strategy outlines the expansion of private sector involvement in offensive cyber operations without adequate consideration of major legal and policy questions.
Chris Beall, Chris Blask, and Jen Rosiere Reynolds warned that AI-driven market manipulation is emerging as a major threat to financial stability by weakening the market’s accuracy, authenticity, and resilience to misinformation.
Samm Sacks examined how Huawei is using its homegrown operating system, HarmonyOS, to integrate AI agents across its devices and products, positioning the Chinese company as a potential global leader in agentic AI.
On Scaling Laws, Kevin Frazier sat down with Tomicah Tillemann to discuss how to regulate emerging technology through policies that enable human agency and flourishing in an AI-powered world.
Also on Scaling Laws, Caleb Watney and Austin Carson joined Frazier at the Ashby Workshops to discuss influential AI policy areas in the long-term, including topics such as research funding, state capacity, talent pipelines, meta-science, immigration, congressional expertise, and more.
And that was the week that was.
