President Trump will declare the escalating number of drug deaths from opioids as a “public health emergency” — but not a “national emergency” — in an announcement scheduled for today.
The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report on aspects of the problem, including an overview of opioid abuse, a review of opioid supply, and a survey of federal programs that deal with the issue. See The Opioid Epidemic and Federal Efforts to Address It: Frequently Asked Questions, October 18, 2017.
On the origins of the crisis, see “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, October 30, 2017.
Other new and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Poverty in the United States in 2016: In Brief, October 25, 2017
EPA Proposes to Repeal the Clean Power Plan, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 25, 2017
Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal, updated October 23, 2017
Gun Control: Silencers under the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 3668), CRS Insight, October 16, 2017
Tracking Federal Funds: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources, updated October 24, 2017
Human Trafficking: New Global Estimates of Forced Labor and Modern Slavery, CRS Insight, October 18, 2017
U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), CRS Insight, October 17, 2017
Overview of “Travel Ban” Litigation and Recent Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 23, 2017
Iran Policy and the European Union, CRS Insight, updated October 18, 2017
States’ Obligations Under Additional Protocols to IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements, CRS memorandum, October 23, 2017
DOE has spent considerable time in the last few years focused on how to strengthen the Department’s workforce and deliver on its mission. The FY25 budget request looks to continue those investments.
The total number of U.S. nuclear warheads are now estimated to include 1,770 deployed warheads, 1,938 reserved for operational forces. An additional 1,336 retired warheads are awaiting dismantlement, for a total inventory of 5,044 warheads.
CHIPS is poised to ramp up demand for STEM graduates, but the nation’s education system is unprepared to produce them.
The Administration has continued to push for further clean energy investments, but faces a difficult fiscal environment in Congress – which has meant shortfalls for many priority areas like funding for CHIPS and Science.