The complexities and some of the potential pitfalls of the presidential transition period are described in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service.

“A variety of events, decisions, and activities contribute to what some may characterize as the unfolding drama of a presidential transition. Interparty transitions in particular might be contentious.”

The report addresses the use of executive orders, record preservation and clemency actions by the outgoing Administration, as well as cybersecurity, budget preparation, political appointments, and so forth. See Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations, updated November 16, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Counting Electoral Votes: An Overview of Procedures at the Joint Session, Including Objections by Members of Congress, updated November 15, 2016

The Congressional Review Act: Frequently Asked Questions, updated November 17, 2016

Infrastructure Finance and Debt to Support Surface Transportation Investment, updated November 17, 2016

Prevalence of Mental Illness in the United States: Data Sources and Estimates, updated November 16, 2016

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) Transitional Reinsurance Program, November 16, 2016

CRISPR: A Revolutionary Tool for Editing the Code of Life?, CRS Insight, November 17, 2016

Certain U.S. Laws for Foreign Workers Draw Fire from India in the WTO, CRS Legal Sidebar, November 16, 2016

Justice Department’s Role in Cyber Incident Response, CRS Insight, November 15, 2016

Naval Station Guantanamo Bay: History and Legal Issues Regarding Its Lease Agreements, updated November 17, 2016

Iran Sanctions, updated November 16, 2016

Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention, updated November 16, 2016

“With a change of presidential administrations taking place in January, some in Congress are paying renewed attention to a parliamentary mechanism that might enable the new Congress and the new President to overturn agency final rules of the Obama Administration issued after late-May 2016,” a newly updated brief from the Congressional Research Service explains.

“The inauguration of Republican Donald J. Trump as President in 2017 may present a finite window during which the [congressional] disapproval mechanism might be used more successfully.” See Agency Final Rules Submitted After May 30, 2016, May Be Subject to Disapproval in 2017 Under the Congressional Review Act, CRS Insight, updated November 9, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Legislative Actions to Repeal, Defund, or Delay the Affordable Care Act, updated November 10, 2016

“Regulatory Relief” for Banking: Selected Legislation in the 114th Congress, updated November 10, 2016

Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress, updated November 10, 2016

Staff Tenure in Selected Positions in Senate Committees, 2006-2016, November 9, 2016

Staff Tenure in Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, 2006-2016, November 9, 2016

Staff Tenure in Selected Positions in House Committees, 2006-2016, November 9, 2016

Staff Tenure in Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2006-2016, November 9, 2016

U.S. Trade with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Partners, updated November 9, 2016

China Issues Decision on Hong Kong Legislative Council Controversy, CRS Insight, November 9, 2016

Navy Force Structure: A Bigger Fleet? Background and Issues for Congress, updated November 9, 2016

Gun Control: FY2017 Appropriations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Other Initiatives, November 9, 2016

In a deeply fractured political environment, the work of the Congressional Research Service may be even more valuable than ever. Non-partisan to a fault, CRS provides the same policy analysis to Republicans and Democrats, to problem-solvers and to nihilists. CRS reports can therefore help to establish a common framework for debate, and a shared vocabulary for discussion. They are at least a place to start a conversation.

One newly updated CRS report “examines Intelligence Community (IC) funding over the past several decades, with an emphasis on the period from 2007-2017.” See Intelligence Community Spending: Trends and Issues by Anne Daugherty Miles, November 8, 2016.

It was issued along with a new companion report on the structure and management of U.S. intelligence. See Intelligence Community Programs, Management, and Enduring Issues, also by Anne Miles, November 8, 2016.

Other new and updated Congressional Research Service reports include the following.

Internet Gambling: Policy Issues for Congress, November 7, 2016

Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated November 8, 2016

Cuba: Issues for the 114th Congress, updated November 8, 2016

FY2017 Defense Spending Under an Interim Continuing Resolution (CR): In Brief, updated November 7, 2016

Women in Congress, 1917-2016: Biographical and Committee Assignment Information, and Listings by State and Congress, updated November 7, 2016

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF): Program Overview and Issues, updated November 8, 2016

Youth Transitioning from Foster Care: Background and Federal Programs, updated November 8, 2016

What Is the Farm Bill?, updated November 8, 2016

When Does Sovereign Immunity Protect Property Owned by State Sponsors of Terrorism?, CRS Legal Sidebar, November 8, 2016

What would happen if no candidate for President of the United States won a majority of electoral votes?

The Congressional Research Service explains: “In these circumstances, the 12th Amendment . . . provides that the House of Representatives would elect the President, and the Senate would elect the Vice President, in a procedure known as ‘contingent election’.”

This is not a purely speculative scenario. “Contingent election has been implemented twice in the nation’s history under the 12th Amendment: first, to elect the President in 1825, and second, the Vice President in 1837.”

See Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Perspectives and Contemporary Analysis by CRS Specialist Thomas H. Neale, November 3, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel, November 7, 2016

Pipeline Security: Domestic Threats, CRS Insight, November 3, 2016

Individual Income Tax Rates and Other Key Elements of the Federal Individual Income Tax: 1988 to 2017, updated November 4, 2016

Treasury’s Recent Report on Foreign Exchange Rate Policies, CRS Insight, November 3, 2016

U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications, updated November 4, 2016

Moldova: A Pivotal Election?, CRS Insight, November 4, 2016

“Numerous” legal challenges to state election laws have been filed during the last few weeks and months, a new report from the Congressional Research Service found, generating new judicial interpretations of those laws.

“For example, there have been recent court rulings affecting the laws regulating early voting, voter photo identification (ID) requirements, registration procedures, straight-party voting, and voter rolls. Accordingly, many such laws have been recently invalidated, enjoined, or altered. Others continue to be subject to litigation.”

The current state of affairs was reviewed in Recent State Election Law Challenges: In Brief by legislative attorney L. Paige Whitaker, November 2, 2016.

Another new CRS report discussed pending efforts in Congress to reconfigure Department of Defense partnerships with foreign military services. See Security Cooperation: Comparison of Proposed Provisions for the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), November 1, 2016.

A federal court for the first time upheld the use of the “social cost of carbon” (SCC) in a cost-benefit analysis by a federal agency, another CRS publication observed. The SCC is a monetary estimate of economic damages that are associated with an incremental increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. See Courts Evaluate How Federal Agencies Put a Price on Carbon, CRS Legal Sidebar, November 1, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Foreign Aid and the Education Sector: Programs and Priorities, November 2, 2016

Funding and Financing Highways and Public Transportation, November 1, 2016

Extraterritorial Application of American Criminal Law, updated October 31, 2016

As of last year, there were 1,009 federal advisory committees comprised of 72,220 members who provided advice to the government at a cost of more than $367 million.

The operations of these federal advisory committees — which may also include commissions, councils, task forces, or working groups — are examined in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. See Federal Advisory Committees: An Introduction and Overview by Wendy Ginsberg and Casey Burgat, October 27, 2016.

Other new and updated CRS reports that have not been made publicly available online include the following.

Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated October 28, 2016

Iran: Politics, Human Rights, and U.S. Policy, updated October 25, 2016

Israel: Background and U.S. Relations, updated October 28, 2016

Ukraine: Current Issues and U.S. Policy, updated October 27, 2016

Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated October 25, 2016

Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack Submarine Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress, updated October 25, 2016

Navy Columbia Class (Ohio Replacement) Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated October 25, 2016

Department of Homeland Security Preparedness Grants: A Summary and Issues, October 28, 2016

DHS Appropriations FY2017: Security, Enforcement, and Investigations, October 27, 2016

Treatment of Noncitizens Under the Affordable Care Act, updated October 27, 2016

Video Broadcasting of Congressional Proceedings, October 28, 2016

The Social Security Retirement Age, October 28, 2016

Social Security: Calculation and History of Taxing Benefits, updated October 27, 2016

Did a Thermostat Break the Internet?, CRS Insight, October 26, 2016

The feasibility of challenging the outcome of a presidential election is examined in a new report from the Congressional Research Service.

“If legitimate and verifiable allegations of voting fraud, or indications of misconduct by election officials on election day are presented, what legal recourses are available to complainants to litigate and potentially to remedy such wrongs and to contest the result of a presidential election?” the report inquires.

Although the presidential election is a national event, it is actually comprised of fifty separate state elections, plus the one in the District of Columbia.

Therefore, “it is an individual state that has the initial responsibility for resolving a challenge, recount, or contest to the results of a presidential election within that jurisdiction,” wrote CRS Legislative Attorney Jack Maskell. See Legal Processes for Contesting the Results of a Presidential Election, October 24, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Partisan Political Activities and Federal Workers: Questions in the 2016 Election, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 20, 2016

State Voter Identification Requirements: Analysis, Legal Issues, and Policy Considerations, updated October 21, 2016

Yemen: Recent Attacks Against U.S. Naval Vessels in the Red Sea, CRS Insight, October 21, 2016

U.S.-South Korea Relations, updated October 20, 2016

DHS Appropriations FY2017: Research and Development, Training, and Services, October 20, 2016

Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress, updated October 21, 2016

Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress, October 20, 2016

Iran’s Foreign and Defense Policies, updated October 21, 2016

“Does federal law require the President to relinquish control of his or her business interests?” That question is considered in a new analysis from the Congressional Research Service.

The short answer appears to be No. “There is no current legal requirement that would compel the President to relinquish financial interests because of a conflict of interest.”

There are, however, certain legal disclosure requirements that apply to candidates for the Presidency. It is those requirements that are “the principal method of regulation of potential conflicts of interests for elected officials such as the President.”

See Conflicts of Interest and the Presidency, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 14, 2016,

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been publicly released include the following.

The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration: Overview and Selected Issues for the 2016 Election, October 18, 2016

Federal Citations to the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, October 19, 2016

Collateral Consequences: What Role, if any, Should They Play in Crafting Sentences?, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 19, 2016

Clean Water Act: A Summary of the Law, October 18, 2016

Ocean Dumping Act: A Summary of the Law, October 18, 2016

The High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) Grant Program: Overview, October 18, 2016

Next Steps for Auction of TV Broadcast Airwaves to Commercial Carriers, CRS Insight, October 17, 2016

Current Vacancies on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims: Overview and Historical Context, CRS Insight, October 13, 2016

Iran’s State-Linked Conglomerates, CRS Insight, October 17, 2016

The Senkakus (Diaoyu/Diaoyutai) Dispute: U.S. Treaty Obligations, October 14, 2016

President Waives Restrictions on Relations with Burma’s Military under Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2008, CRS Insight, October 12, 2016

Elections Strengthen Georgia’s Ruling Party, CRS Insight, October 18, 2016

Recent Developments in U.S.-Russian Nonproliferation Cooperation, CRS Insight, October 13, 2016

A new web site provides a searchable collection of a large number of Congressional Research Service reports, modified to remove the names of the authors and their contact information. Aspirationally named EveryCRSReport.com, it does not include the latest CRS publications such as those provided above.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service considers: “What would happen in 2016 if a candidate for President or Vice President were to die or leave the ticket any time between the national party conventions and the November 8 election day? What would happen if this occurred during presidential transition, either between election day and the December 19, 2016, meeting of the electoral college; or between December 19 and the inauguration of the President and Vice President on January 20, 2017?”

See Presidential Elections: Vacancies in Major-Party Candidacies and the Position of President-Elect, October 6, 2016.

It was a pleasant surprise to read in the Food section of the Washington Post last week that a new breed of perennial wheat called Kernza has now become commercially available. (“Perennial wheat is an ecologist’s dream. Soon it may be what’s for dinner” by Jane Black, October 2).

Perennial food grains have been pursued for decades by researchers at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas because, unlike crops that must be annually resown, perennial grains can help to strengthen soil over time rather than depleting it.

But this kind of research into sustainable agriculture is not on the research agenda of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to the Congressional Research Service, some critics “have argued that some of USDA’s agricultural research portfolio duplicates private sector activities on major crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. They argue that funding should be reallocated to basic, noncommercial research to benefit the public good that is not addressed through private efforts.” See Agricultural Research: Background and Issues, October 6, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Presidential Transition Act: Provisions and Funding, updated October 5, 2016

Paris Climate Change Agreement to Enter into Force November 4, CRS Insight, October 5, 2016

Should the U.S. Relinquish Its Authority Over the Internet Domain Name System?, CRS Insight, October 5, 2016

Social Security Administration (SSA): FY2017 Appropriations and Recent Trends, October 5, 2016

Medicare: Insolvency Projections, updated October 5, 2016

State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs: FY2017 Budget and Appropriations, updated October 5, 2016

U.S. Foreign Assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean: Trends and FY2017 Appropriations, October 6, 2016

U.S. Invokes Visa Sanctions under Section 243(d) of the INA for the First Time in 15 Years, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 5, 2016

The period of transition between presidential administrations can be turbulent, with potentially accelerated decision-making, diminished oversight, executive appointments, acts of clemency, “midnight rulemaking,” records management decisions, and heightened national security vulnerabilities, among other factors.

Many of these areas are considered in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. See Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations, September 29, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, updated September 28, 2016

Military Construction: FY2017 Appropriations, October 4, 2016

U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts, updated September 29, 2016

Kuwait: Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated September 29, 2016

Navy Columbia Class (Ohio Replacement) Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, October 3, 2016

An Abridged Sketch of Extradition To and From the United States, updated October 4, 2016

Patents and Prescription Drug Importation, October 4, 2016

Poverty in the United States in 2015: In Brief, October 4, 2016

Counting Regulations: An Overview of Rulemaking, Types of Federal Regulations, and Pages in the Federal Register, updated October 4, 2016

Zika Response Funding: Request and Congressional Action, updated September 30, 2016

Energy Policy: 114th Congress Issues, updated September 30, 2016

Human-Induced Earthquakes from Deep-Well Injection: A Brief Overview, updated September 30, 2016

Statutorily Required Federal Advisory Committees that Began Operations in FY2015, CRS Insight, September 30, 2016

Internships, Fellowships, and Other Work Experience Opportunities in the Federal Government, September 30, 2016

Encryption: Frequently Asked Questions, September 28, 2016

The conflict in South Sudan is one of four in the world — along with those in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen — that are classified by the United Nations as humanitarian emergencies of the highest order (Level 3), a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service points out.

“U.N. officials estimate that at least 50,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, but no reliable death count exists, and some experts suggest the toll may be much higher. More than 2.7 million people have been displaced since December 2013. At least 1.7 million people are displaced internally, and in September 2016 the number of refugees surpassed 1 million.”

For background on the conflict and its humanitarian impact, see Conflict in South Sudan and the Challenges Ahead, updated September 22, 2016.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations, updated September 20, 2016

U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues, updated September 27, 2016

Iran’s Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International Obligations, updated September 26, 2016

Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated September 26, 2016

Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Regulations: Background and Issues for Congress, September 28, 2016

Housing for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, updated September 27, 2016

The Yahoo! Data Breach–Issues for Congress, CRS Insight, September 26, 2016

Wells Fargo Customer Account Scandal: Regulatory Policy Issues, CRS Insight, September 28, 2016

Monuments and Memorials Authorized Under the Commemorative Works Act in the District of Columbia: Current Development of In-Progress and Lapsed Works, updated September 26, 2016

U.S. Peanut Program and Issues, updated September 27, 2016

After a 5 year review process, the Drug Enforcement Agency decided to reject a petition to reduce or eliminate legal controls on marijuana. However, it agreed to authorize increased legal cultivation of marijuana for research purposes.

The current state of affairs was summarized by the Congressional Research Service in DEA Will Not Reschedule Marijuana, But May Expand Number of Growers of Research Marijuana, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 21, 2016.

Other new or updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Child Support Enforcement and the Hague Convention on Recovery of International Child Support, updated September 22, 2016

Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress, updated September 21, 2016

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), updated September 21, 2016

U.S. Agricultural Trade with Cuba: Current Limitations and Future Prospects, updated September 21, 2016

Iran Sanctions, updated September 21, 2016

Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, updated September 21, 2016