The Week That Was

Scott R. Anderson discussed President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which includes de jure recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and de facto recognition of other territories under occupation. Anderson explained that despite a Supreme Court ruling that the president has exclusive power to recognize foreign nations, Congress can utilize its spending authority, political capital, and more to limit the extent to which such recognition actually changes policy.

Todd Phillips discussed an emergency petition before the Supreme Court that could overturn Humphrey’s Executor and the for-cause removal protections it accords to certain officials. Phillips argued that the Court cannot craft an exception for governors of the Federal Reserve while stripping other officials of protections and emphasized the importance of preserving the Fed's independence in the face of political interference.

On April 25 at 4 p.m. ET, Benjamin Wittes sat down with Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, Roger Parloff, James Pearce, and Preston Marquis to discuss the status of the civil litigation against Trump’s executive actions.

Parloff reported from an April 23 hearing on dispositive motions in Perkins Coie v. U.S. Department of Justice, in which United States District Judge Beryl A. Howell questioned parties about the administration's justification for executive orders targeting law firms, the specifics of deals some firms have made with the administration, cancellation of employees’ security clearances, and more.

On April 23, Wittes spoke to Parloff about two hearings he attended that day regarding Trump's executive orders targeting law firms such as Perkins Coie and WilmerHale.

On Rational Security, Bower, Kevin Frazier, and Tyler McBrien joined Anderson to talk about the week’s big national security news, including the ongoing legal battles over deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, the Trump administration’s rollback of artificial intelligence (AI) guardrails, reports that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared classified information in another Signal chat, and more.

Wittes considered the yet unanswered question of what authority permits the government to send migrants to El Salvador for indefinite detention, as well as the substantial differences that set these detentions apart from war on terror cases.

On Lawfare Daily, McBrien sat down with Julia Rose Kraut to discuss her 2020 book “Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States,” the Trump administration's deportation efforts, the chilling effect these policies have on constitutionally protected political speech, and more.

Wittes reflected on Harvard University’s lawsuit against the Trump administration and the importance of powerful institutions resisting attacks on civil liberties. Wittes highlighted that the ensuing fight over enforcing court orders in Harvard’s favor is a critical juncture in Trump’s attempted authoritarian takeover.

On Lawfare Daily, Wittes sat down with Bower, Jurecic, Parloff and Pearce to discuss the status of the civil litigation against Trump’s executive actions, including Judge James Boasberg's finding of probable cause for contempt in the Alien Enemies Act case.

J. Luis Rodriguez argued that the U.S. should refrain from invoking the “unwilling or unable doctrine” of self defence—which Mexico has argued contradicts established international law—to justify use of military force against Mexican cartels. Rodriguez warned that a broad application of the doctrine could encourage other countries to attack non-state actors and adversaries despite lacking strong justifications.

On Lawfare Daily, Olivia Manes sat down with Mikhail Zygar to discuss the incentives underlying Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine, how Putin has clamped down on independent journalism, global disillusionment with liberal democracy, and more.

Manes shared a March 28 letter from the White House citing the War Powers Resolution and informing Congress of military actions in Yemen that started on March 15.

In the latest installment of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Sophia Besch and Erik Brown emphasized the growing importance of undersea cables and other forms of subsea infrastructure to European states. Besch and Brown discussed strategies for improving deterrence, repair, and resilience capabilities, including asserting legal authority to arrest vessels beyond territorial waters, increasing the number of repair vessels, eliminating redundancies in funding, and more.

Michael Sulmeyer joined Daniel Byman to discuss the cyber threat landscape, how actors might leverage AI, and the key role of allies in cyberdefense, and more.

Jen Easterly and Jack Cable argued that U.S. policymakers should address outdated anti-hacking laws inhibiting testing and encourage software vendors to disclose vulnerabilities to strengthen security research and compete with China.

Matt Chessen and Craig Martell argued that the Apollo program’s whole-of-society approach, rather than the more narrowly focused Manhattan Project, is a better model for developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) due to its potential to accelerate AI diffusion, fund research initiatives, prevent escalation with China, and more.

Simon Goldstein and Peter N. Salib argued that the establishment of a joint U.S.-China AI research lab—which would pool resources such as talent and compute—can mitigate the threat of an AI race and advance development.

Lauryn Williams discussed the importance of public-private collaboration in addressing the cybersecurity needs of the U.S. space industry, such as cyber solutions for on-orbit systems, enhanced information-sharing mechanisms, and more.

In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren discussed the Southeast Asian organized crime scam compounds expanding into legitimate industries, the future of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Secure by Design initiative after the departure of two senior advisers, an unidentified threat actor targeting Russian military personnel, and more.

Noah Tan compared central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to traditional systems such as Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) based on transaction speeds, financial access, interoperability, and more. Tan emphasized the limitations of CBDCs and the importance of innovating existing financial systems to compete with CBDCs.

Luke Baumgartner discussed how civil rights groups can use the legal framework of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 to challenge hate groups in court, highlighting that the potential resulting financial penalties of this litigation are an effective tool at a time when the Department of Justice has signaled that prosecution of these groups is no longer a priority.

And Frazier sat down with Chris Hughes to discuss his new book “Marketcrafters” and what historical examples of directing the markets for the public good can teach us at a time of immense economic uncertainty and political upheaval.

And that was the week that was.