A new report from the Congressional Research Service considers legal aspects of encryption policy. It reviews the existing case law concerning efforts to compel disclosure of encrypted data. It also discusses related issues including the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and the scope of the All Writs Act that is now the focus of a dispute between Apple and the FBI. See Encryption: Selected Legal Issues, March 3, 2016.
Other new and updated CRS reports that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following.
Nominations to the Supreme Court During Presidential Election Years (1900-Present), CRS Insight, March 3, 2016
Heroin Production in Mexico and U.S. Policy, CRS Insight, March 3, 2016
Expedited Removal Authority for VA Senior Executives (38 U.S.C. 713): Selected Legal Issues, updated March 4, 2016
House Committee Chairs: Considerations, Decisions, and Actions as One Congress Ends and a New Congress Begins, updated March 3, 2016
Health Care for Dependents and Survivors of Veterans, updated March 3, 2016
Libya: Transition and U.S. Policy, updated March 4, 2016
Implications of Iranian Elections, CRS Insight, March 4, 2016
The new alignment signals a clear shift in priorities: offices dedicated to clean energy and energy efficiency have been renamed, consolidated, or eliminated, while new divisions elevate hydrocarbons, fusion, and a combined Office of AI & Quantum.
We came out of the longest shutdown in history and we are all worse for it. Who won the shutdown fight? It doesn’t matter – Americans lost. And there is a chance we run it all back again in a few short months.
Promising examples of progress are emerging from the Boston metropolitan area that show the power of partnership between researchers, government officials, practitioners, and community-based organizations.
Americans trade stocks instantly, but spend 13 hours on tax forms. They send cash by text, but wait weeks for IRS responses. The nation’s revenue collector ranks dead last in citizen satisfaction. The problem isn’t just paperwork — it’s how the government builds.