Gradually, and Then Suddenly: The Decline and Fall of ODNI
Afrikaner Refugees and the Limits of U.S. Pressure on South Africa
Beyond Washington’s refugee policy is a larger story about South Africa’s foreign policy and the limits of U.S. power in a multipolar world.
Accusation, Trust, and the Future of Vulnerability Disclosure
Reconstructing Iran’s Nuclear Baseline
America Won't Beat the Distillation Ecosystem
Highlights
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Can Government of and by API Still Be Government ‘for the People’?
Government dependence on private AI shifts policymaking from Congress and the civil service to procurement contracts—with no public input. -
Gradually, and Then Suddenly: The Decline and Fall of ODNI
The decline of ODNI’s effectiveness, analytic rigor, and political neutrality is deleterious for the nation’s security. But it is also unsurprising. -
Afrikaner Refugees and the Limits of U.S. Pressure on South Africa
Beyond Washington’s refugee policy is a larger story about South Africa’s foreign policy and the limits of U.S. power in a multipolar world. -
Accusation, Trust, and the Future of Vulnerability Disclosure
Microsoft’s dispute with Nightmare Eclipse reveals what’s at stake when companies conflate disclosure with criminality. -
Reconstructing Iran’s Nuclear Baseline
To reach an effective nuclear agreement with Iran, negotiators first must establish the status of Iran’s nuclear program. -
The Week That Was
Your weekly summary of everything on the site. -
America Won't Beat the Distillation Ecosystem
The latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, now on Lawfare. -
Justice Delayed, Justice Denied? The HCJ’s ICRC Visits Judgment
The Supreme Court belatedly finds refusal to allow ICRC visits to Palestinian prisoners a blatant violation of Israeli and international law. -
An Optimist’s Account of Artificial Intelligence
A review of Josh Tyrangiel’s “AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things that Matter” (Simon & Schuster, 2026). -
NATO 3.0: A Tagline in Search of a Concept
Force Posture Decisions Have Become Another Coercive Tool in the Trump Administration’s Alliance Management Toolkit -
Will the New Export Controls Shake the Foundations of the U.S. AI Industry?
Washington’s misplaced assumptions around export control and domestic regulations pose strategic risks to national stability. -
Slaughter’s Silence
Trump v. Slaughter’s silence on the civil service raises concerns of executive aggrandizement. -
Rethinking Treasury's Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Office
The U.S. doesn’t need a new agency—it needs existing ones to work. Upgrading Treasury’s financial intelligence office offers a start. -
Can Frontier AI Labs Lawfully Agree to Pause?
Anthropic raised the possibility of a coordinated, verified AI development pause. Antitrust law might prevent that. -
What’s up with Trump’s Mail-In Voting Executive Order?
Agency actions and court decisions make it easier to understand how insidious, and how illegal, the EO will turn out to be.
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 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
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U.S. Government Agrees to $1.25 Million Settlement in Michael Flynn Suit
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Trump Signs Executive Order Purporting to Restrict Mail-in Voting
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ODNI Releases 2026 Threat Assessment
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Lawfare Daily: What's Happening at ODNI?
Unpacking how recent changes at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence impact its mission. -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, July 2
Listen to the July 2 livestream as a podcast. -
Lawfare Daily: What the Supreme Court Said About the President's Power Over Independent Agencies
Breaking down the Supreme Court's opinion in U.S. v. Slaughter.
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Lawfare Live: The Trials of the Trump Administration, July 2
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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.


