The legal framework governing the deployment and use of armed forces to guard the US border with Mexico is surveyed in a new publication from the Congressional Research Service.

See The President’s Authority to Use the National Guard or the Armed Forces to Secure the Border, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 19, 2018.

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

Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, updated April 18, 2018

Spain and Its Relations with the United States: In Brief, updated April 19, 2018

France and U.S.-French Relations: In Brief, April 19, 2018

Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities, updated April 18, 2018

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress, updated April 18, 2018

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the single largest procurement program in the Department of Defense, which anticipates acquiring thousands of these aircraft.

But while “the F-35 promises significant advances in military capability…, reaching that capability has put the program above its original budget and behind the planned schedule,” according to the Congressional Research Service. See F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program, updated April 13, 2018.

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

FY2018 Defense Appropriations Act: An Overview, CRS In Focus, April 5, 2018

The President’s FY2019 Military Construction Budget Request, CRS In Focus, April 4, 2018

Legal Authorities Under the Controlled Substances Act to Combat the Opioid Crisis, April 16, 2018

Regulatory Reform 10 Years After the Financial Crisis: Dodd-Frank and Securities Law, April 13, 2018

Offshore Oil and Gas Development: Legal Framework, updated April 13, 2018

NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: A Fact Sheet, updated April 16, 2018

Special Counsels, Independent Counsels, and Special Prosecutors: Legal Authority and Limitations on Independent Executive Investigations, updated April 13, 2018

Cuba After the Castros, CRS Insight, April 17, 2018

The 2019 budget request for U.S. Special Operations Command — $13.6 billion — is 10% higher than the 2018 level and is the largest budget request ever submitted by US SOCOM.

U.S. special operations forces, which are currently deployed in 90 countries, have more than doubled in size from 33,000 personnel in 2001 to around 70,000 personnel in early 2018. Next year’s budget, if approved, would make them larger still.

For a newly updated overview from the Congressional Research Service, see U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress, April 13, 2018.

Other recent CRS reports that have not otherwise been made publicly available include the following.

Federal Election Commission: Membership and Policymaking Quorum, In Brief, April 12, 2018

Regulatory Reform 10 Years After the Financial Crisis: Systemic Risk Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions, April 12, 2018

Abortion At or Over 20 Weeks’ Gestation: Frequently Asked Questions, April 11, 2018

Millennium Challenge Corporation, updated April 12, 2018

Latin America and the Caribbean: Fact Sheet on Leaders and Elections, updated April 11, 2018

Softwood Lumber Imports From Canada: Current Issues, updated April 12, 2018

Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention, updated April 12, 2018

The “smart grid” refers to an ongoing modernization of the nation’s electrical power system that makes it possible to dynamically allocate power and optimize system operation. It’s a work in progress.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service reviews smart grid technologies, costs and concerns including privacy and cybersecurity. See The Smart Grid: Status and Outlook, April 10, 2018.

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

An Overview of Discretionary Reprieves from Removal: Deferred Action, DACA, TPS, and Others, April 10, 2018

Class Action Lawsuits: A Legal Overview for the 115th Congress, April 11, 2018

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and an FY2019 Budget Resolution, April 10, 2018

Trade Promotion Authority (TPA): Frequently Asked Questions, updated April 10, 2018

Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) Mobility, Reconnaissance, and Firepower Programs, updated April 10, 2018

Tort and Litigation Reform in the 115th Congress, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 10, 2018

Mississippi Court Halts Enforcement of New Abortion Law, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 10, 2018

OMB and Treasury Disagree over Process for Issuing New Tax Rules, CRS Insight, April 10, 2018

Balanced Budget Amendments, CRS Insight, April 10, 2018

U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, updated April 10, 2018

The U.S. military is accelerating the development of prompt global strike weapons that are intended to allow the U.S. to hit targets anywhere on Earth on short notice using conventional weapons.

The Department of Defense has requested increased funding in FY 2019 for prompt global strike weapons — $278 million, up from $201 million in FY 2018 — with further increases anticipated for the next five years.

“This shows the growing priority placed on the program in the Pentagon and the growing interest in Congress in moving the program forward toward deployment,” according to a newly updated report on such weapons from the Congressional Research Service.

See Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues by Amy F. Woolf, April 6, 2018.

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

Options to Cease Implementing the Iran Nuclear Agreement, updated April 5, 2018

Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress, CRS Insight, April 6, 2018

When the City Goes Broke: Pensions, Retirees, and Municipal Bankruptcies, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 10, 2018

Sexual Harassment and Title VII: Selected Legal Issues, April 9, 2018

Commerce Department Announces Citizenship Question on 2020 Census and Lawsuits Filed, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 6, 2018

Lame Duck Sessions of Congress, 1935-2016 (74th-114th Congresses), April 6, 2018

Statutory Interpretation: Theories, Tools, and Trends, April 5, 2018

This week China imposed tariffs on imports of various U.S. agricultural products in retaliation for Trump Administration tariffs on Chinese imports. Today the Administration announced that it would consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods in response.

The impact of the Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports of pork meat, cherries, almonds, and ginseng, among other items, was detailed in a new brief from the Congressional Research Service. See China’s Retaliatory Tariffs on Selected U.S. Agricultural Products, CRS Insight, April 4, 2018.

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

U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices, updated April 4, 2018

Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity, April 5, 2018

Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding: FY2019, April 4, 2018

Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): A Summary of the Statute, April 4, 2018

Data, Social Media, and Users: Can We All Get Along?, CRS Insight, April 4, 2018

Abortion and Family Planning-Related Provisions in U.S. Foreign Assistance Law and Policy, updated April 5, 2018

Nuclear Cooperation with Other Countries: A Primer, updated April 3, 2018

What Happens When Five Supreme Court Justices Can’t Agree?, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 5, 2018

As Trump Administration trade policies generate national and global repercussions, the fundamentals of trade are presented in a new report from the Congressional Research Service to help understand what is happening and what is at stake.

The report explains basic economic concepts, such as why countries trade, it provides data on U.S. trade relationships, and it describes how trade policy is formulated. See U.S. Trade Policy Primer: Frequently Asked Questions, April 2, 2018.

Other new and updated CRS reports include the following.

China-U.S. Trade Issues, updated April 2, 2018

Tricks of the Trade: Section 301 Investigation of Chinese Intellectual Property Practices Concludes (Part I), CRS Legal Sidebar, March 29, 2018

Overview of the Federal Tax System in 2018, March 29, 2018

Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy In Brief, updated April 3, 2018

Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 30, 2018

Can Aliens in Immigration Proceedings Be Detained Indefinitely? High Court Rules on Statutory, but not Constitutional Authority, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 3, 2018

District Court Decision May Help Pave the Way for Trump Administration’s Border Wall Plans, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 2, 2018

Public transportation systems across the United States are losing riders. Excluding gains in New York City, national ridership decreased by 7% over the past decade. A new report from the Congressional Research Service examines the causes and consequences of this decline. See Trends in Public Transportation Ridership: Implications for Federal Policy, March 26, 2018.

Other new and updated CRS reports issued last week include the following.

U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications, updated March 27, 2018

Guatemala: Political and Socioeconomic Conditions and U.S. Relations, updated March 27, 2018

House Committee Markups: Manual of Procedures and Procedural Strategies, updated March 27, 2018

Whose Line is it Anyway: Could Congress Give the President a Line-Item Veto?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 27, 2018

All non-confidential reports of the Congressional Research Service must be made publicly available online through a Government Publishing Office website within 90 to 270 days under a provision of the 2018 omnibus appropriations act that was passed by Congress and signed by the President last week.

The move is the culmination of more than two decades of efforts to encourage, cajole or coerce Congress into making the reports broadly available to the public. (See “Liberating the Congressional Research Service,” Secrecy & Government Bulletin, March 1997.)

“Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are the gold standard when it comes to even-handed, non-partisan analysis of the important issues before Congress,” said Daniel Schuman of Demand Progress, who led the most recent campaign for online public access. “For too long, they’ve only been primarily available to the well-connected and the well-heeled. At long last, Congress will make the non-confidential reports available to every American for free,” he said. See “Long-Proprietary Congressional Research Reports Will Now Be Made Public” by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive, March 23, 2018.

In fact, however, the large majority of CRS reports have already been posted online and are easily available to the public, though not through government websites. So the net increase in “transparency” resulting from the new legislation is less than it would have been years ago.

After President Trump claimed on Friday that the omnibus appropriations law will provide the largest military pay increase in over a decade, a New York Times fact-checking column cited a CRS report to demonstrate that the claim was “imprecise” and “slightly exaggerated.” See “Trump’s Objections Require Some Corrections” by Linda Qiu, March 23.

The Times article provided a link to an online copy of the January 2018 CRS report on military pay.

Threats to the U.S. electric power grid in recent years, including actual attacks on transmission substations, have prompted utilities and regulators to adopt various steps to enhance grid security. A new report from the Congressional Research Service reviews the observable changes in security practices to date and discusses the current threat environment. See NERC Standards for Bulk Power Physical Security: Is the Grid More Secure?, March 19, 2018.

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

Bankruptcy Basics: A Primer, March 22, 2018

ATF’s Ability to Regulate “Bump Stocks”, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 22, 2018

Eight Mechanisms to Enact Procedural Change in the U.S. Senate, CRS Insight, March 20, 2018

Net Neutrality: Will the FTC Have Authority Over Broadband Service Providers?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 20, 2018

Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Potential Economic Implications, CRS Insight, March 19, 2018

Unauthorized Childhood Arrivals: Legislative Activity in the 115th Congress, March 22, 2018

Turkey: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief, updated March 23, 2018

Iran’s Foreign and Defense Policies, updated March 20, 2018

It Belongs in a Museum: Sovereign Immunity Shields Iranian Antiquities Even When It Does Not Protect Iran, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 22, 2018

The US Constitution leaves many basic questions of constitutional law unanswered, whether because they could not be anticipated or because the text is broadly worded or ambiguous.

Consequently, “Interpretation is necessary to determine the meaning of ambiguous provisions of the Constitution or to answer fundamental questions left unaddressed by the drafters,” a new report from the Congressional Research Service explains.

But there are different ways to perform such interpretation that may yield different results.

The new CRS report provides a helpful introduction to the most common “modes” of interpretation, including textualism, original meaning, judicial precedent, pragmatism, moral reasoning, national identity, structuralism, and historical practices.

Interpreting the Constitution is not a task left solely to the Supreme Court; it is also a responsibility of Members of Congress. “Members should vote upon legislation based on their own constitutional interpretations, which may be at odds with the Court’s,” wrote former Sen. Russ Feingold, but “they should not vote for legislation without any thought whatsoever regarding its constitutionality.”

See Modes of Constitutional Interpretation, March 15, 2018.

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

The U.S. Export Control System and the Export Control Reform Initiative, updated March 15, 2018

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), updated March 13, 2018

China-U.S. Trade Issues, updated March 14, 2018

Pass-Throughs, Corporations, and Small Businesses: A Look at Firm Size, updated March 15, 2018

Jurisdiction Stripping: When May Congress Prohibit the Courts from Hearing a Case?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 15, 2018

Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile, updated March 19, 2018

Women in Congress, 1917-2018: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress, updated March 19, 2018

Last year, the Congressional Research Service generated more than 1,100 new products and and updated 2,100 others, according to a new CRS annual report to Congress.

The annual report describes the Service’s structure, operation, recent activities and new initiatives. It scarcely mentions thorny issues such as the adequacy of the CRS budget, or the challenges posed by the retirement of senior analysts. It does not address the question of providing broad public access to CRS reports at all.

But it does include a useful listing of all new and updated CRS products from the past year, covering an impressive range of issues (in Appendix F).

See CRS Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2017, January 2018 (published March 2018).

Recently, a group of current and former CRS analysts wrote to CRS director Mary Mazanec and Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to raise questions about CRS’s “approach to objectivity and saliency in today’s political environment.”

Objectivity is not the same as neutrality or refusal to express a conclusion, they argued.

“We are concerned that CRS risks falling short of its mission if it holds back the independent analysis that Congress has directed us to provide. Sparking our concern, CRS has appeared to avoid reaching conclusions in some topic areas with high potential for political controversy. In some such topic areas, CRS operates as a neutral compiler of facts and opinions, with little of the expert analysis, appraisal, and evaluation of their credibility that Congress requires. CRS also seems to have avoided a few topics or facets of topics almost entirely,” the current and former CRS authors wrote in a January 12 letter.

In short, they suggested, CRS needs to “recalibrate its objectivity practices.”

Some new and updated CRS reports this week include the following.

Arming Teachers as a Response to School Shootings, CRS Insight, March 13, 2018

Can the Government Prohibit 18-Year-Olds from Purchasing Firearms?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 13, 2018

The President Acts to Impose Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports, CRS Insight, March 13, 2018

Organization of American States: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 14, 2018

Northern Ireland, Brexit, and the Irish Border, CRS Insight, March 12, 2018

Russia’s 2018 Presidential Election, CRS Insight, March 13, 2018

Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 13, 2018