Troy Edwards, Bruria Haya Friedman-Feldman, and Vishnu Kannan warned that, because the Trump administration has deteriorated the government’s national security apparatus, the U.S. is more vulnerable to an Iranian attack, whether through acts of terrorism, cyberattacks, election interference, or more.
On Lawfare Daily, Edwards joined Michael Feinberg to discuss why the U.S. may not be adequately prepared to detect acts of retaliation from Iran due to the Trump administration’s weakening of the U.S.’s national security apparatus.
Tyler McBrien shared the U.S.’s letter to the UN Security Council laying out its justification for the attacks on Iran as a matter of self defense and collective defense of Israel.
On Rational Security, Scott R. Anderson sat down with Natalie K. Orpett, Benjamin Wittes, and Ariane Tabatabai to unpack the latest updates in the ongoing conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran, including Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S.’s struggle to secure European support, the U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school, and more.
On Lawfare Daily, Hanna Notte joined Anastasiia Lapatina to discuss Iranian-Russian cooperation in the context of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, Russia’s role in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, challenges to Iran and Russia’s relationship, and more.
Alan Z. Rozenshtein argued that because the Department of Defense unlawfully used national security authorities in its designation and ban of Anthropic as a supply chain risk, the courts should block the action, but should still allow the government to stop contracting with the company through ordinary legal channels.
On Lawfare Daily, Wittes sat down with Eric Columbus, Roger Parloff, Kate Klonick, and Anderson to discuss the judge’s opinion quashing the government’s subpoenas in the investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Anthropic’s ongoing lawsuits against the Defense Department, the decision finding Kari Lake’s running of the U.S. Agency for Global Media unlawful, and more.
Wittes examined the government’s lackluster brief in the Department of Justice’s investigation of Powell—which is seemingly based on minimal evidence and motivated by political malice—and considered Judge Boasberg’s response.
On Lawfare Live, Wittes sat down with Columbus and Parloff to discuss the ongoing litigation over the Trump administration’s immigration policies, a judge’s order to reinstate employees of the international broadcaster Voice of America, and more.
Ilya Somin argued that the Supreme Court should reject the Trump administration’s effort in Trump v. Barbara to deny birthright citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants, contending that the government’s argument is in direct contradiction with the Citizenship Clause’s original and historic meaning within the 14th Amendment.
Andrew Kent argued that the Trump administration’s application of the Alien Enemies Act to alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan organized crime group, stretches the act beyond its original meaning and is an unlawful use of legislation meant for wartime military threats.
David Del Terzo explained how the Supreme Court’s disagreement over the Major Questions Doctrine in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump creates uncertainty about the limits of executive power and leaves the door open for the president to invoke his authority over spending, export controls, and foreign investment.
On Lawfare Daily, Anna Bower and Molly Roberts joined Wittes to discuss Bower and Roberts’ recent Lawfare article on Trump’s draft executive order that attempts to assert greater federal control over U.S. elections, what such an executive order could do in practice, and its likelihood of coming to fruition.
In the fifth installment of her Lawfare Lecture series, Laura Field discussed the underlying ideologies of the “hard right” movement, the emergence of reactionary thinkers, the influence the movement has had on modern political discourse, the broader cultural implications, and more.
Wittes reminded readers of the anger-inducing, seemingly unending newstream from recent days, including issues concerning rule of law, third party wars, bizarre weather events, the ongoing investigation of Powell, and more.
Anvesh Jain examined how a recent Canadian court decision that limits the government’s use of emergency powers demonstrates strong judicial enforcement of statutory limits on executive authority, which differs from the more lenient approaches observed in other countries’ courts in the Western hemisphere.
As part of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Sara Harmouch argued that the Syrian transitional government under former jihadist Ahmad al-Sharaa is not institutionally transformative; rather, al-Sharaa’s leadership continues the authoritarian, Sunni-dominant government he promoted during his jihadist commander days.
In the latest edition of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Alexander Palmer explained why the escalating conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan reflects a critical breakdown of their former proxy relationship. Palmer warned that the crisis could lead to increased regional instability and open up vacuums for terrorist organizations to attempt to fill, creating rippling effects for U.S. national security.
Sam Howell warned that the discovery of Chinese Communist Party-linked biolabs in the U.S. exposes major gaps in domestic biosecurity. Howell urged policymakers to reduce biological weapons-based national security risks by expanding government oversight of private biolab research and improving the understanding and detection of biological threats.
Marissa Wang shared the intelligence community’s 2026 Annual Threat Assessment evaluating what it views as the most significant national security threats facing the United States over the coming year.
On Lawfare Daily, Derek Pieper joined Feinberg to discuss how counterintelligence investigations differ from counterespionage, what is needed for success in each, and the risks of politicizing national security issues.
J.B. Branch and Allan E. Cameron warned that the Defense Department’s move to cut military education at elite universities will allow foreign adversaries like China to gain a long-term advantage over the U.S. by weakening domestic technological innovation, talent cultivation, and strategic competitiveness.
Jessica Tillipman explained that while the General Services Administration’s proposed contract clause on the procurement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems is a much-needed expansion of oversight, it falls short of adequately addressing commercial AI buying issues such as data-use limits, testing rights, meaningful disclosure, supply chain transparency, and more.
In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren unpacked how Iran may escalate its use of cyber operations to retaliate against the U.S.-Israeli strikes on its soil, Meta’s announcement of the rollback of end-to-end encrypted messages on Instagram, President Trump’s open telephone interviews on the war in Iran, and more.
Yotam Berger explored how commercial spyware could be used in domestic U.S. criminal investigations and explained why its different capabilities should be governed by distinct legal approaches, including existing frameworks such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41, and the Fourth Amendment.
Matthew Tokson reviewed Orin Kerr’s book, “The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World,” which synthesizes over 40 Fourth Amendment issues into a larger narrative of modern digital privacy law. While Tokson critiqued Kerr’s balancing of investigative efficiency over privacy, Tokson still found Kerr’s proposals to be informative and compelling.
On Scaling Laws, Rozenshtein sat down with Jessica Silbey and Woody Hartzog to discuss the pair’s paper, “How AI Destroys Institutions,” which examines the threats posed by AI systems democratic society and civic institutions. Their conversation covered how the rise of AI contrasts from past technological transitions, whether AI-generated decisions are legitimate enough to constitute rule of law process, and more.
And that was the week that was.
