- Social:
University of Texas at Austin
Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law; former Professor of Law at the American University Law School in Washington DC and an expert in national security law
PROFILE
Stephen Vladeck
Guest
FROM Stephen Vladeck
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
President Trump nominates William Barr as the next Attorney General President Trump today announced William Barr would be his pick for the next Attorney General earlier today. He also announced he would nominate Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
To the Point
Suing Saudi Arabia: What could go wrong? Fifteen years after the attacks of September 11, the families of victims still want authorization to sue Saudi Arabia -- even though there's no "smoking gun." In this election year, they got what they wanted when bipartisan majorities of Congress yesterday overrode a veto by President Obama.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Supreme Court’s Diversity Problem People have often complained that the country’s Supreme Court isn’t diverse enough: not enough women and not enough minorities. Still, it has improved. There are three women on the court now, one of them Hispanic. And there’s one African-American justice.
To the Point
The "Known Wolves" of International Terror "Media is more than half the battle." That's the motto of the State Department's Center for Strategic Counterterrorism . It's taken from a remark by an enemy leader, Al Qaeda's current commander, and it's demonstrated by the highly sophisticated recruiting videos produced by the so-called Islamic State. But it works both ways.
To the Point
New Court Decision Calls NSA Surveillance Legal A federal court in New York ruled today that the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' telephone records is constitutional just a few weeks after a Washington District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the NSA program violates the constitutional ban on unreasonable search.
To the Point
What's Next for the Beleaguered NSA Surveillance Program A federal judge came down hard yesterday on the National Security Agency's collection of billions of Americans' telephone records, calling it a likely violation of the Constitution. But Judge Richard Leon stayed his own injunction against the NSA , setting off what's likely to be a long debate about the law and national security.
Recommended
To the Point
Politics, the World Order and Donald Trump’s New Year Newly divided government could mean change in this new year… or not. House Democrats don’t always stick together--and presidential campaigns could get in the way. The GOP might not heed Mitt Romney’s call for respectability. Meantime, will America’s allies unify to sustain world order without America’s leadership?
To the Point
National Security: An Adult in the Room America’s mainstream media are obsessed with President Trump’s off-hand policymaking in military and foreign affairs. But his mistakes don’t justify the unquestioned authority given the Pentagon, the CIA and the FBI. William Arkin is quitting NBC News with a scathing assessment. He says the national security state has created a condition of “perpetual war” without making America safer--and that the media are failing to report it. L ater on our Climate Change Update segment: how the government shutdown is hurting American science.