July 31, 2019

Episode 130: In Case of Vacancy, Who Becomes Our Acting Podcast Host?

59 minutes

And we’re back with a new episode, with co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney discussing and debating the latest national security law news (and, let’s face it, engaging in *lots* of digressions). This week we’ve got:

Succession-Fest: We go deep into the weeds on a number of succession-in-office topics involving people named to be “acting” this-or-that. Of course we focus in particular on the prospect of an Acting Director of National Intelligence, but we also look ahead to developments impacting the Department of Homeland Security. And, just for kicks, we consider the implications of having a large number of acting officials as department heads in light of, oh, how about the 25th Amendment?

Military Commissions: We update a few topics from last week, while once more looking ahead to the eventual 9/11 trial.

SCOTUS in Summer: SCOTUS is out of session, yes, but still takes certain actions. We’ve got a Border Wall update, along with some really-in-the-weeds analysis of the Court’s original (and perhaps exclusive?) jurisdiction for certain types of cases involving states.

NSD Roundup: Usually the roundup of news involving DOJ’s National Security Division involves one prosecution victory after another, but not this week: We pick up a story from our 109th episode, reporting on the district court’s recent decision to vacate the conviction of Hamid Hayat (the Lodi, California man convicted more than a decade ago for an alleged terrorism plot).

As for frivolity, this week we keep it rather brief and off-the-cuff, focusing on some Major League Baseball trade developments.

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