Maxwell School News

"It's likely that most are rolled back by Biden administration," says Mark Jacobson, assistant dean of Washington programs, about Trump's changes at the Pentagon. "But the point is all of these cost money, waste time and hamper the ability of the national security establishment to focus on the real threats the United States faces," he adds.

Mark Jacobson, assistant dean of Washington programs says that "the [John] Kerry pick [as Biden's special presidential envoy for climate] is really incredible from a structural standpoint." His selection, Jacobson says, is "an admission that our mid-20th century national security structures were not designed to deal with some of the more holistic and potentially existential threats, in this case, climate change."

Mark Jacobson, assistant dean for Washington programs at Maxwell School, commented on the firing of Defense Secretary Esper by Donald Trump. He said "Our enemies are going to take note of that, they know that now is a particularly vulnerable time"

"Attention on the domestic political situation and the president’s dominance of the news and his well-being is obscuring what else might be going on in the world that should be drawing some of our attention," says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

"The further away, the less likelihood of being fired," says Assistant Dean Mark Jacobson of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper's frequent travel amid persistent rumors that he will either quit or be fired after the election. 

While military deployment to the border by President Trump is "clearly legal," Professor of Practice William Banks questions "whether the wall construction itself is lawful."

The National Guard is trained to help domestically in a variety of capacities. "That said, they are members of the military, not law enforcement, so they are largely trained to supplement military jobs," says Professor Emeritus William Banks.

"You want to come to the aid of the states when states can’t take care of themselves," says Professor Emeritus William C. Banks, about President Trump's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act.

"At its core, this is about an aircraft carrier skipper who sees an imminent threat and is forced to make a decision that risks his career in the act of what he believes to be the safety of the near 5,000 members of his crew," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe.

Most of the time...America’s military forces have remained in the background, waiting for direction from civilian leaders to respond to crises and then only in limited ways," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "That’s by design. We train soldiers to fight and win wars and deter threats overseas."

"The Insurrection Act may be invoked only following an invasion, insurrection or widespread domestic violence," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "Only if states attempt to leave the Union would state defiance enable Insurrection Act authority. Otherwise the states control their citizens' health, welfare and safety."

"If martial law were invoked, the government would be conducted ad hoc by the president or a military commander based entirely on his or her opinion of what was needed to meet the emergency, unbound by any laws and with no transparency or public participation, and probably no accountability afterward," writes William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. 

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks says the changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process in the bill would increase accountability for abuses of the system and require the FBI to disclose more information to the court.

Professor of Economics Mary Lovely says the rules governing scientists’ ties to Chinese research institutions are murky and sometimes lead prosecutors to charge people who have made innocent mistakes. "People can stumble into things inadvertently. The rules have to be very clear and if someone violates those clear rules, then you throw the book at them," she says.

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks said congressional action regarding FISA could further insert politics into a process that should be free of it. "All the politics that surrounded the headlines of this story would rear their ugly head again," he says. "It could end up with more amendments to FISA that do more harm than good."

"Contamination from the president’s approach is amplified when his judgment is largely shaped by television commentators and his decision announced by tweet," write University Professor Sean O'Keefe and his co-author. "No one is as well positioned to balance the exigencies of combat and the demands of law and ethics as a panel of fellow sailors, Marines, airmen or soldiers," they add.

"Even among his customary allies and supporters, there has been pretty blunt criticism, not only of the policy choice but of the way it was done and the way it is continuing to be done," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science, of the troop withdrawal in Syria.