Latest in Congress
Published by The Lawfare Institute in Cooperation With 
-
Rep. Smith's proposed NDAA amendments on Guantanamo and Indefinite Detention
This week, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) filed two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2014 (H.R. 1960). The first, co-sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and James Moran (D-VA), provi... -
White House Threatens Veto of NDAA
OMB has issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) pointing out White House objections to various elements in pending NDAA legislation (H.R. -
Official Word on Stephen Preston
The White House has now officially announced the President's intent to nominate Stephen Preston as General Counsel of the Pentagon. The statement says in relevant part: Stephen W. Preston, Nominee for G... -
Sunsetting the AUMF: Rep. Schiff's Proposal
Pardon the interruption from all-things-surveillance, but pursuant to our back and forth with Bobby, Jack, Matt, and Ben on the merits of a new AUMF, Representative Adam Schiff, a senior member of the Ho... -
Transcript of HASC Debate on GTMO Transfer Amendment
The House Armed Services Committee was hard at work marking up the National Defense Authorization Act for the upcoming fiscal year. We have a transcript of the debate over Democratic Congressman Adam Smi... -
How Hard is the White House Trying to Close GTMO?
President Obama and his team pledged in 2009 to work hard with Congress to close GTMO. There appeared to be little White House follow-up for the next four years, however. And indeed, the administration... -
HASC Chairman's Mark of the 2014 NDAA
Apropos of Jack's post: here's the Chairman's mark of the National Defense Authorization bill for 2014. Among many, many other things, the draft legislation requires the Secretary of Defense to notify c... -
Why Jim Comey is a Great Choice for FBI Director
In the abstract, the last thing President Obama needs in a new FBI director is another (very) tall, white, male moderate Republican. But there are people who compel you to throw out the rule book. And Ji... -
Eight Thoughts on the Broad Reading of Article II Inherent in Bobby’s Conjecture
Bobby’s post from Friday argued that “the current shadow war approach to counterterrorism doesn’t really require an armed-conflict predicate–or an AUMF, for that matter.” Bobby’s point is that most if n... -
Disclaimer about CFR Essay [UPDATED]
As I noted yesterday, I have an essay at CFR on the President's speech. I don’t write the headlines or the summaries of my pieces, and I was surprised and dismayed when someone at CFR summarized my piec... -
Does the Armed-Conflict Model Matter in Practice Anymore?
This post draws on material from my current book project, the concluding chapter of which considers the legal architecture of counterterrorism in a "postwar" setting...and advances the argument that we a... -
The President's Speech: Lawmakers React to Obama's Renewed Transfer Efforts
Among the policies President Obama announced in his speech: a renewed commitment to transfer detainees to third countries, where possible. To that end, he said he would appoint a new GTMO-focused envoy a...
Topics
