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FY2017 Defense Budget Request: In Brief – Lynn M. Williams, Analyst in U.S. Defense Budget Policy; Pat Towell, Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget. February 12, 2016. “The Administration’s FY2017 budget request includes $619.5 billion for national defense of which $590.6 billion is for the Department of Defense (DOD). Of the DOD total, $523.9 …
The EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Agreement on Personal Data Privacy: In Brief. Martin A. Weiss, Specialist in International Trade and Finance Kristin Archick Specialist in European Affairs. October 29, 2015. “On October 6, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgment that invalidates the Safe Harbor Agreement between the United States …
CRS Reports & Analysis Legal Sidebar – What Does Justice Scalia’s Death Mean for Congress and the Nation? – “This sidebar, the first of several pending CRS projects on Justice Scalia and the new Supreme Court vacancy, provides an overview of the major implications of Justice Scalia’s death for Congress.”
Follow up to posting – Longest-serving member of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies see Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate. Denis Steven Rutkus, Specialist on the Federal Judiciary. February 19, 2010. “The appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is an event of major significance in American politics. Each …
New York Times: “Justice Scalia, whose legal theories, vivid writing and outsize personality made him a conservative leader on the Supreme Court, was found dead in Texas [at the age of 79].” New York Times: Battle Begins Over Naming Next Justice Politico: Obama’s Supreme Court short list – The president has a chance to make …
A Country Breaking Down, Elizabeth Drew, The New York Review of Books: “The near-total failure of our political institutions to invest for the future, eschewing what doesn’t yield the quick payoff, political and physical, has left us with hopelessly clogged traffic, at risk of being on a bridge that collapses, or on a train that …
EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track? James E. McCarthy, Specialist in Environmental Policy; Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy. February 9, 2016. “Since Barack Obama was sworn in as President in 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed and promulgated numerous regulations to implement the pollution control statutes enacted …
Social Security Primer, Dawn Nuschler, Specialist in Income Security. February 9, 2016. “The Social Security program was established in the 1930s and has been modified by Congress many times over the years. Today, Social Security provides monthly cash benefits to retired or disabled workers and their family members, and to the family members of deceased …
The Islamic State and U.S. Policy. Christopher M. Blanchard, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs; Carla E. Humud, Analyst in Middle Eastern and African Affairs. February 9, 2016. “The Islamic State (IS, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL/ISIS, or the Arabic acronym Da’esh) is a transnational Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group …
CRS report – Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations, Christopher M. Blanchard Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, February 5, 2016. “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ruled by the Al Saud family since its founding in 1932, wields significant global influence through its administration of the birthplace of the Islamic faith and by virtue of its …
Federal spending on highways does not correspond very well with how the roads are used. “CBO examines three approaches lawmakers could consider to make highway spending more productive: “Federal spending on highways (or, synonymously, roads) totaled $46 billion in 2014, roughly a quarter of total public spending on highways. About 95 percent of that amount …
CBO: “H.R. 957 would direct the President to appoint an Inspector General for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) within 60 days of enactment, and would require the CFPB to set aside 2 percent of its annual funding to operate the office of the Inspector General. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer …
