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Checks on Presidential Power Are Stronger Than You Think

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Posted: January 20th, 2017

By Jack Goldsmith

Jack Goldsmith is the Henry L. Shattuck Professor at Harvard Law School, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and co-founder of Lawfare. He teaches and writes about national security law, presidential power, cybersecurity, international law, internet law, foreign relations law, and conflict of laws. He served as Assistant Attorney General at the Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.

Donald Trump today enters the most powerful office in the United States, and probably the world. Just how powerful, however, is an area of much dispute. Despite early promises to curtail executive authority in areas of national security, foreign policy, and warmaking, some argue that President Obama has actually expanded those authorities, leaving a “loaded gun” in the Oval Office. The Cipher Brief talked with Harvard Professor and former Assistant Attorney-General in the Office of Legal Counsel, Jack Goldsmith, to find out just how much authority resides in the presidency and how checks and balances on presidential power have changed in the past 15 years.

The Cipher Brief: How have the national security powers of the presidency changed since 2001?

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