Last year, the Department of Energy decided to declassify the fact it intended to make 25 metric tons of Highly Enriched Uranium available from “the national security inventory” for downblending into Low Enriched Uranium for use in the production of tritium. However, the decision to declassify that information was classified Secret. This year, the Department […]
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Democracy in Decline?
Democracy as a political system has not advanced around the world in the past decade and by some measures it has actually declined, a new report from the Congressional Research Service observes. The obstacles are not all located abroad. Unlike its predecessors, the Trump Administration does not include democracy promotion as part of its national […]
Read MoreOn the Conduct of Army Information Operations
The planning and execution of US Army information operations are the subject of a new Army manual for practitioners. Information operations are activities that involve the use of information to support US and allied military objectives and/or to degrade adversary functions. The field of information operations includes military deception, cyberspace operations, and other sub-disciplines. The first step is to characterize […]
Read MoreCRS Views Trump Admin Reorganization Proposals
Last June, the White House issued a set of proposals to reform and reorganize government functions in dozens of executive branch agencies. The proposals range from cosmetic (e.g., renaming the Department of Health and Human Services) to substantial (e.g., combining the Departments of Labor and Education) with significant implications for domestic and foreign policy, as well as […]
Read MoreAircraft Interdiction Nets Colombian Cocaine
With the support of U.S. intelligence, the Colombian Air Force last year engaged dozens of aircraft suspected of illicit drug trafficking, leading to the seizure of 4.4 metric tons of cocaine. In 2017, “Colombia, with the assistance of the United States, responded to 80 unknown assumed suspect (UAS) air tracks throughout Colombia and the central/western […]
Read MoreDoD 30-Year Aircraft Plan Reveals New Details
The most recent Department of Defense plan for its military aviation programs is unusually “full of details on specific programs, including cancellations, life extensions, and new starts. Some are explicit; others, between the lines,” writes Jeremiah Gertler of the Congressional Research Service. He identified the some of the novelties in a new CRS publication. See […]
Read MoreAccounting Board Okays Deceptive Budget Practices
Government agencies may remove or omit budget information from their public financial statements and may present expenditures that are associated with one budget line item as if they were associated with another line item in order to protect classified information, the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board concluded last week. Under the newly approved standard, government […]
Read MoreThe Bells of Balangiga, and More from CRS
New and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress, updated October 5, 2018 Defense Primer: The NDAA Process, CRS In Focus, updated October 3, 2018 Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, CRS In Focus, updated October 2, 2018 Lebanon, […]
Read MoreRemembering Steve Garfinkel
We were very sad to learn that Steve Garfinkel, the former director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), passed away on September 24. Appointed by President Carter in 1980, Mr. Garfinkel served as the second ISOO director for two decades until his retirement in January 2002. In that position, he played an influential role […]
Read MoreGovernment Contractor Accountability, & More from CRS
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Selected Legal Tools for Maintaining Government Contractor Accountability, September 26, 2018 Federalism-Based Limitations on Congressional Power: An Overview, September 27, 2018 EPA Proposes the Affordable Clean Energy Rule to Replace the Clean Power Plan, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 26, 2018 EPA Proposes New […]
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