Only a few months after being defeated in the Presidential Election the Republican Party is having an identity crisis. The party has split in two over the issue of civil liberties and presidential power. The split came to a head when Senator Rand Paul filibustered CIA Director John Brennan’s nomination for 13 hours. In response [...]

With questions still unanswered on the President’s targeted killing powers, John Brennan was sworn in today as CIA Director. But in a ironically symbolic twist of fate the Constitution used to swear Brennan in did not contain the Bill of Rights. From emptywheel: According to the White House, John Brennan was sworn in as CIA [...]

Update 2:00 pm EST: The Obama Administration has issued a response on drones. The U.S. government cannot target an American citizen who is not engaged in combat on American soil, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday during his daily press briefing. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) had on Thursday asked the administration if the [...]

Senator Rand Paul is holding a filibuster on President Obama’s refusal to deny he has the authority to kill Americans on American soil without due process. In a rare, traditional filibuster, Sen. Rand Paul vowed to speak on the Senate floor “as long as it takes” to draw attention to his concerns about the Obama [...]

Just ahead of today’s CIA director confirmation hearing President Obama has ordered the release of memos that were written by his administration to justify the killing of American citizens without due process. The White House on Wednesday directed the Justice Department to release to the two Congressional Intelligence Committees classified documents discussing the legal justification [...]

Tomorrow will be one of the first and possibly last opportunities for a real discussion of the US Drone Assassination program as John Brennan goes before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in hopes of being confirmed as CIA director. Already a contentious issue, the stakes have been further raised as a Justice Department white [...]

As we move into the second decade of war what little is left of our principles is being chipped away. In a white paper given to NBC News the Obama Administration asserts the right to kill Americans with no due process. A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing [...]

Given that Congress has decided to let the President kill people – including American citizens – without any due process it seems once again America will only face its problems due to outside pressure. A United Nations expert has launched an investigation of drone attacks and targeted killings, scrutinizing a deeply controversial tool in the [...]