Presidential authority to seek modifications to NAFTA independent of Congress was addressed by the Congressional Research Service last week in Renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): What Actions Do Not Require Congressional Approval?, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 26, 2017.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II is visiting Washington today. See Jordan: Background and U.S. Relations, updated January 25, 2017.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Cross-Border Energy Trade in North America: Present and Potential, January 24, 2017
Clean Air Act Issues in the 115th Congress: In Brief, January 24, 2017
President Trump Freezes Federal Civil Service Hiring, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 26, 2017
Keystone Revival: Executive Memorandum Paves Way for Possible Approval of Keystone XL Pipeline, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 26, 2017
Dakota Access Pipeline: Siting Controversy, CRS Insight, updated January 26, 2017
House Office of Congressional Ethics: History, Authority, and Procedures, updated January 24, 2017
Affordable Care Act Executive Order: Legal Considerations, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 24, 2017
Abortion and Family Planning-Related Provisions in U.S. Foreign Assistance Law and Policy, updated January 24, 2017
The First Responder Network (FirstNet) and Next-Generation Communications for Public Safety: Issues for Congress, updated January 26, 2017
National Special Security Events: Fact Sheet, updated January 25, 2017
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.