Today's Headlines and Commentary

Jeff Sessions resigned as attorney general on Wednesday at President Trump’s request, reports the New York Times. The president has tapped Sessions’s chief of staff Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general; Whitaker has echoed some of the president’s frustrations with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, says the Times.

Sources close to new Whitaker say he has no plan to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation, despite close associations with Sam Clovis, a potential witness and numerous public statements disparaging the investigation, says the Post.

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis are trapped as fighting escalates in the strategic port city of Hodeidah, says the Post.

A bipartisan group of nonproliferation experts that includes former Secretary of State George Shultz and former Sens. Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn have written letters to President Trump asking that he save the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to the Times.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Mikhaila Fogel, Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic, Matthew Kahn, Anushka Limaye and Benjamin Wittes analyzed Sessions’s firing, Whitaker’s rise, and the attorney general’s role in the Mueller investigation.

Benjamin Wittes shared a special episode of the Lawfare podcast on Sessions’ departure and on Matt Whitaker, his successor.

Jen Patja Howell posted this week’s episode of Rational Security, covering the midterm results and Jeff Sessions’s resignation.

Matthew Kahn posted Sessions’s resignation letter.

Suzanne Maloney explored the successes and failures of the U.S.’s newest round of sanctions on Iran, and question of what the Trump Administration wants from Tehran.

Evelyn Douek analyzed the Business for Social Responsibility report on Facebook’s role in the violence in Myanmar as well as the recommendations it provides.

Robert Chesney and Steve Vladeck posted this week’s episode of the National Security Law Podcast, the final segment of their trilogy on the history and evolution of foreign intelligence collection law.

Mikhaila Fogel shared a 2014 Office of the Legal Counsel opinion approving airstrikes against the Islamic State, recently released by the Justice Department.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.

We rely on contributions from our generous readers, and now, as a thank you, we're offering a Lawfare challenge coin! Get yours by making a donation at lawfarestore.com.