Rational Security: The "Law and Order: Executive Victims Unit" Edition
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Feb 5, 2025
Dive into the controversial maneuvers of the Trump administration, such as unlawfully impounding funds and redefining birthright citizenship. Explore the repercussions of dismissing key Justice Department officials linked to investigations. The conversations reveal the complex balance of power between the executive branch and Congress while questioning the legality of recent actions. Tune in for a thought-provoking analysis on the evolving landscape of national security and constitutional law!
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Congressional Authority Challenged
The Trump administration's actions, like impounding funds and terminating federal employees, challenge traditional congressional authority.
Congress's muted response raises concerns about the separation of powers.
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Unclear Policy Goals
The policy goals behind the Trump administration's actions, such as funding cuts and agency dismantling, appear unclear.
This lack of coherence may stem from differing motivations among administration officials.
insights INSIGHT
Drive for Control
Trump's seemingly arbitrary targeting of agencies, like USAID, reflects a desire for greater control, not necessarily strategic thinking.
This drive for control seems to prioritize immediate personnel actions and agency redirection over long-term consequences.
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This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Benjamin Wittes, Molly Reynolds, and Anna Bower to talk through another big week of national security news, including:
“Checked Out and Off Balance.” Over its first two weeks in office, the Trump administration has pushed against the traditional limits of congressional authority by unlawfully impounding funds, terminating federal employees contrary to statute, and seeking to dismantle at least one federal agency contrary to statute. But the Republican-controlled Congress has thus far remained almost entirely complacent, if not supportive of the president’s actions. How far will the Trump administration be able to go? And what will the long-term consequences be for the separation of powers?
“Jus Soli? Jus Kidding.’” As one of his first acts after returning to the White House, Donald Trump issued an executive order refusing to recognize birthright citizenship in the United States for anyone whose parents are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. All told, it seems like a clear effort to trigger a review of the traditional understanding of the 14th Amendment as implementing jus soli, meaning citizenship based on place of birth. But how likely is it to work?
“Fo’ Drizz(coll).” The Trump administration’s promised campaign of retribution has hit the Justice Department, where senior supervisors have been reassigned and prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 investigations have been terminated, perhaps unlawfully. But now efforts to gather the names of FBI agents involved in those same investigations for presumed retribution are facing serious pushback, including from the Bureau’s Acting Director Brian Driscoll (known as “the Drizz”). How hard can the FBI and Justice Department push back? And where are the legal limits on what the Trump administration can do?
In object lessons, Molly chose not to gamble and stayed on-brand with her recommendation of local-NPR-affiliate podcast Scratch & Win. Ben asked himself the question that many at the FBI are asking themselves these days: “WWDD?” Scott followed the sentiment with an endorsement of “Civil servants shouldn’t quit their jobs,” by Matthew Yglesias. And Anna insisted that her reverence of the TV show Severance has absolutely nothing—really, nothing—to do with belly buttons.
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