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Steven Aftergood – Secrecy News/FAS: “Do the security clearance procedures that are used for granting access to classified information actually serve their intended purpose? To help answer that question, the Senate Intelligence Committee mandated a review of security clearance requirements, including “their collective utility in anticipating future insider threats.” See the Committee’s new report on …
“September 7, 2017 the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the following statement in response to the release of the report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking: “Taxpayers deserve to know that the programs they fund are working—especially when those programs are meant to help lift people out of poverty. But too often, Washington measures …
CRS report via FAS – Disaster Debris Management: Requirements, Challenges, and Federal Agency Roles, September 6, 2017. “Every year, communities in the United States are affected by disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, floods, wildfires, and winter storms. After a disaster, when a region turns its attention to rebuilding, one of the greatest challenges …
“A challenge to a partisan redistricting plan in Wisconsin goes before the Supreme Court this fall in the case of Gill v. Whitford. In the New York Times article “The New Front in the Gerrymandering Wars: Democracy vs. Math,” Emily Bazelon writes of the significance of the case, “The outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision …
Reynolds, Glenn Harlan, Congressional Control of Presidential Pardons (August 25, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3026884 “Though the president’s pardon power is plenary, many questions remain. To what extent may Congress, via legislation, regulate the president’s pardon power? Though it is well established that the power is plenary, does that insulate the pardon power from any …
“Using the ProPublica Congress API, developers can access details on each of the thousands of bills introduced in every two-year session. But they used to have to download those details one bill at a time, and be able to write API calls in software code. Now you can download information on all of the bills …
Via FAS [many thanks as always to Steven Aftergood] – a complement of new and recent applicable critical CRS resources on subject matter pertinent to Hurricane Harvey, including flood response and recovery, oils and chemical spills, flood insurance, disaster assistance and housing, and dam safety. These documents are especially important in light of this report …
“…A Washington Post analysis shows just how broad tech companies’ interests have become in the nation’s capital. According to corporate disclosures that were submitted to the Senate Office of Public Records and screened by the Center for Responsive Politics, some of these tech giants are regularly setting records in their spending on lobbying and are …
“Your road map to the state-by-state battles that will decide the balance of power in Washington. Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales/Roll Call ratings are categorized to reflect the degree to which one party or the other is projected to win and do not reflect the closeness of the contest.”
China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States, Wayne M. Morrison, Specialist in Asian Trade and Finance. August 26, 2017. [via FAS] “Prior to the initiation of economic reforms and trade liberalization 36 years ago, China maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally-controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated …
Presidential Pardons: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), CRS Legal Sidebar, 8/28/2017: “…The Framers did not debate this question at the Convention, and it unclear whether they considered whether the pardon power could be applied in this manner. No President has attempted to pardon himself…Accordingly, this is an unsettled constitutional question, unlikely to be resolved unless a …
Via FAS – Domestic Terrorism: An Overview, Jerome P. Bjelopera, Specialist in Organized Crime and Terrorism. August 21, 2017. “The emphasis of counter terrorism policy in the United States since Al Qaeda’s attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) has been on jihadist terrorism. However, in the last decade, domestic terrorists—people who commit crimes within the …
