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 for national security.

A memorandum prepared by the Congressional Research Service provides brief summaries and analyses of the most important proposals, assessing their feasibility and describing the uncertainties involved. See Trump Administration Reform and Reorganization Plan: Discussion of 35 “Government-Wide” Proposals, CRS memorandum, July 25, 2018.

New and updated reports issued by the Congressional Research Service last week include the following.

Air Force B-21 Raider Long Range Strike Bomber, updated October 12, 2018

Religious Intolerence [sic] in Indonesia, CRS In Focus, October 10, 2018

Post-election Issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, CRS Insight, October 11, 2018

Hurricane Michael: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources, CRS Insight, updated October 11, 2018

Temporary Protected Status: Overview and Current Issues, updated October 10, 2018

Vehicle Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Standards, CRS In Focus, updated October 11, 2018

Expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill, October 11, 2018

House Passes Bill to Amend the Federal “Crime of Violence” Definition, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 11, 2018

Deference and its Discontents: Will the Supreme Court Overrule Chevron?, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 11, 2018

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 Caribbean,” according to the latest annual report on the program. The report does not say how many of the aircraft were actually interdicted or fired upon. There were also 139 aircraft that were grounded by Colombian law enforcement agencies.

See Annual Report of Interdiction of Aircraft Engaged in Illicit Drug Trafficking (2017), State Department report to Congress, January 2018 (released under FOIA, October 2018).

The joint US-Colombia effort dates back at least to a 2003 Air Bridge Denial program involving detection, monitoring, interception, and interdiction of suspect aircraft.

The basic procedures for intercepting, warning, and attacking a suspect aircraft were more fully described in a 2010 version of the annual report. At that time, Brazil was also part of the Air Bridge Denial program.

US support for the Colombia aircraft interdiction program — which includes providing intelligence and radar information, as well as personnel training — was renewed by the President in a July 20, 2018 determination.

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 Defense’s 30-Year Aircraft Plan Reveals New Details, CRS In Focus, October 9, 2018.

Other new products from the Congressional Research Service that are not publicly available on the CRS website include the following.

Proposed U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Trade Agreement, CRS In Focus, October 5, 2018:

Agricultural Provisions of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, CRS In Focus, October 5, 2018

Effects of U.S. Tariff Action on U.S. Aluminum Manufacturing, CRS In Focus, October 9, 2018

Venezuela: Political and Economic Crisis and U.S. Policy, CRS In Focus, updated October 9, 2018

Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions, CRS In Focus, updated October 4, 2018

Statutory Canon Aimed at International Organization Immunity, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 5, 2018

Do Courts Have Inherent Authority to Release Secret Grand Jury Materials?, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 5, 2018

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 agencies may “modify information required by other [financial] standards” in their public financial statements, omit otherwise required information, and misrepresent the actual spending amounts associated with specific line items so that classified information will not be disclosed. (Accurate and complete accounts are to be maintained separately so that they may be audited in a classified environment.)

See Classified Activities, Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) 56, Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, October 2018.

The new policy was favored by national security agencies as a prudent security measure, but it was opposed by some government overseers and accountants.

Allowing unacknowledged modifications to public financial statements “jeopardizes the financial statements’ usefulness and provides financial managers with an arbitrary method of reporting accounting information,” according to comments provided to the Board by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General.

Properly classified information should be redacted, not misrepresented, said the accounting firm Kearney & Company. “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) should not be modified to limit reporting of classified activities. Rather, GAAP reporting should remain the same as other Federal entities and redacted for public release or remain classified.”

The new policy, which extends deceptive budgeting practices that have long been employed in intelligence budgets, means that public budget documents must be viewed critically and with a new degree of skepticism.

A classified signals intelligence program dubbed “Vesper Lillet” that recently became the subject of a fraud indictment was ostensibly sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services, but in reality it involved a joint effort of the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Security Agency.

See “Feds allege contracting fraud within secret Colorado spy warehouse” by Tom Roeder, The Gazette (Colorado Springs), October 5, 2018.

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, updated October 5, 2018

Iraq: Issues in the 115th Congress, updated October 4, 2018

Argentina’s Economic Crisis, CRS In Focus, October 2, 2018

Mexico: Background and U.S. Relations, updated October 2, 2018

Spain and Its Relations with the United States: In Brief, updated October 5, 2018

Macedonia: Uncertainty after Referendum on Country’s Name, CRS Insight, October 3, 2018

Afghanistan: Legislation in the 115th Congress, October 3, 2018

U.S.-South Korea (KORUS) FTA, CRS In Focus, updated September 28, 2018:

The Return of the Bells of Balangiga to the Republic of the Philippines, in Context, CRS In Focus, October 1, 2018

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 in the evolution of the national security classification system during its rapid expansion in the Reagan years and through the ambitious declassification initiatives of the Clinton era.

The ISOO director’s job of supervising the operation of the government’s classification system is an all but impossible one, since ISOO’s resources and authorities are not commensurate with its assigned responsibilities.

But Garfinkel made the whole system better than it was with the tools that he had available. He instituted training programs for classifiers, he restrained some of the excesses of agency officials, and he cultivated a rational approach to the diverse challenges that the late cold war classification system produced.

He made “many contributions to the well-being of our nation,” said J. William Leonard, his successor. “While I had the honor to follow in Steve’s footsteps as ISOO Director, from the very beginning I recognized that I would never be able to fill his shoes,” wrote Mr. Leonard, whose own shoes are quite large.

“He was a monumental man, a man of great honor and integrity,” wrote Roger Denk, the former director of the Defense Personnel and Security Research Center. “His sense of humor, combined with his brilliance, made him a joy to be around.”

During his years at ISOO, Mr. Garfinkel welcomed with some surprise the growing attention of public interest groups to classification policy. (“Notwithstanding you, very few people give a tinker’s damn about the security classification system,” he had told me in a 1993 interview.) The mounting volume of public complaints seemed to give him greater leverage in his own internal policy debates.

Yet he typically resisted the specific prescriptions offered by critics. After Tom Blanton and I wrote an op-ed in the New York Times 25 years ago criticizing a Clinton draft executive order on classification and comparing it unfavorably to President Nixon’s policy, Garfinkel lamented that we had been “too effective”: the final Clinton order shortened the duration of classification for most documents, as we had urged, but it also included “a lot more exceptions than I would have wanted,” he said. “Aftergood and Blanton hoisted themselves on their own petard.” Years later, Garfinkel continued to believe that we had made a fateful error.

Garfinkel brought a deep humanity to what was essentially a bureaucratic role. He was warm, kind, funny and not afraid of an argument or an opposing view.

When he “retired” from ISOO in 2002, he took on what might have been an even more challenging task — teaching high school students in suburban Maryland.

“I have no desire whatsoever to return to the government in any capacity, save public high school teacher, which is doing everything necessary to leave me ragged,” he told me. As for secrecy policy, “I hope we never get to the point where we quit trying [to do better], although I have personally quit worrying about it and I think you will inevitably reach that point also.”

Many of the qualities that made him a great public servant also made him a beloved teacher of a generation of students, some of whom remembered him on Twitter last week.

rest in peace to one of my all time favorite teachers. i feel so lucky to have been one of his students. he truly bettered my learning experience and was just so caring and genuine. we’ll never forget you, mr. garfinkel ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/MWVT4g85s4

— k ✿ (@kimberlyxcaffi) September 25, 2018

My nephew that goes to Einstein just told me that my favorite teacher of all time Mr Garfinkel passed away. I’m heartbroken 😔 he was so amazing and even years later I still haven’t had a teacher like him.

— Cynthia Rodriguez (@ohheycynth) September 25, 2018

https://twitter.com/a_lexiiiiii/status/1044692291934461952

Mr. Garfinkel, I couldn’t imagine going through high school without you. You were by far the best teacher I ever had, and even though I fucked around in your class often, I still feel that you instilled in me a confidence that I’ll never lose.

— Spencer Fye (@SpencerFye96) September 25, 2018

https://twitter.com/bnjrn0/status/1044426500030763009

https://twitter.com/picgraphy/status/1044778032601473024

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 Permitting Test for Power Plant Modifications, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 25, 2018

Government Contract Bid Protests: Analysis of Legal Processes and Recent Developments, updated September 26, 2018

Electronic Filing of Senate Campaign Finance Reports, CRS Insight, September 21, 2018

Global Trade Imbalances, CRS Insight, September 27, 2018

Escalating Tariffs: Potential Impacts, CRS Insight, updated September 24, 2018

Canada’s Dairy Supply Management System, CRS Insight, updated September 27, 2018

Burma’s Political Prisoners and U.S. Policy: In Brief, updated September 24, 2018

South Sudan’s Civil War: Nearly 400,000 Estimated Dead, CRS Insight, updated September 28, 2018

After years of cumulative and seemingly irreversible growth, the backlog of pending security clearance investigations declined in the last three months in response to new policy guidance.

Since June, the National Background Investigation Bureau has reduced its background investigation inventory from 725,000 cases to 657,000 cases, according to a new quarterly report on security clearance policy. “Reductions are expected to continue as policy changes are further implemented.”

The backlog of pending investigations had increased from about 190,000 in August 2014 to more than 710,000 in February 2018. As recently as last March, the Government Accounting Office said that “NBIB leadership has not developed a plan to reduce the backlog to a manageable level.”

But that was then. Now, the new quarterly report says, background investigations are on track to be reduced to “a steady and sustainable state” by March 2021.

The decline is attributed to “thoughtful, risk-based modifications to the background investigation process” as well as to a significant increase in the number of investigators. “NBIB increased the capacity of its investigative workforce from 5,843 Federal and contractor investigators on October 1, 2016 to over 8,400 Federal and contractor investigators today,” according to a new NBIB report obtained by ClearanceJobs.com.

Much remains to be done. A June 2018 deadline for producing “updated standards for denying, suspending, and revoking Federal credentials” was missed, the quarterly report said.

An efficient and judicious security clearance system excludes persons who might pose a threat to national security. But an inefficient and backlogged system excludes qualified persons who cannot wait a year or longer for a clearance. In this way, a poorly performing clearance system may itself pose a threat to national security.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service examines how and why the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn one of its own rulings interpreting the Constitution. There are at least 141 cases where such rulings have in fact been overturned, including three in the Court’s latest term, and these are tabulated in an appendix to the report. See The Supreme Court’s Overruling of Constitutional Precedent, September 24, 2018.

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

Supreme Court October Term 2017: A Review of Selected Major Rulings, September 19, 2018

International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law, updated September 19, 2018

Intellectual Property Law: A Brief Introduction, CRS In Focus, September 19, 2018

Can a Foreign Employee of a Foreign Company be Federally Prosecuted for Foreign Bribery?, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 19, 2018

Expedited Removal of Aliens: Legal Framework, September 19, 2018

WTO Disciplines on U.S. Domestic Support for Agriculture, CRS In Focus, September 19, 2018

Conflict in Mali, CRS In Focus, updated September 19, 2018

The Palestinians: Overview and Key Issues for U.S. Policy, CRS In Focus, updated September 18, 2018

NAFTA and the Preliminary U.S.-Mexico Agreement, CRS Insight, September 19, 2018

China’s Engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean, CRS In Focus, September 18, 2018

U.S.-China Relations, CRS In Focus, updated September 18, 2018

American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, updated September 14, 2018

The role of U.S. intelligence agencies in helping to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel abroad is highlighted in a recently revised Intelligence Community Directive.

The directive does not specifically cite the reported sonic attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Havana, but those mysterious events seem to fall within its scope, which include implementing Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) and TEMPEST programs (shielding electromagnetic emissions and preventing penetrations).

See Counterintelligence and Security Support to U.S. Diplomatic Facilities Abroad, Intelligence Community Directive 707, amended August 21, 2018.

The Congressional Research Service launched its new public portal this morning, with an initial installment of 628 reports dating back to January of this year. The back catalog of older reports is supposed to be added over time.

The public versions of the reports are lightly redacted to remove the author’s contact information, and to add some boilerplate language about CRS.

At this point, CRS is only posting its primary “R series” reports, such as these newly updated documents (provided here in their original, unmodified format):

American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, updated September 14, 2018

Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies, updated September 13, 2018

“In keeping with our desire to engage users with the Library and its materials,” wrote Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, “we are happy to see these reports put to the widest use possible.”

But other CRS product lines — including CRS In Focus, CRS Insight, and CRS Legal Sidebar — are not currently available through the public portal. So CRS reports like these must still be obtained independently:

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks in U.S. Agriculture, CRS In Focus, September 17, 2018

Hurricane Florence: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources, CRS Insight, updated September 13, 2018

Locomotive Idling, Air Quality, and Blocked Crossings, CRS In Focus, updated September 13, 2018

The new public collection of CRS reports was created in response to legislation “ending the legal requirement prohibiting CRS from providing its products to the public,” according to CRS.

The Department of Energy has nuclear weapons facilities in seven states including three laboratories, five component fabrication or materials production plants, one assembly and disassembly site, a geologic waste repository, and one testing facility.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service summarizes operations at each of the sites. See The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Overview of Department of Energy Sites, September 6, 2018.

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

FY2019 Appropriations for the Department of Energy, CRS Insight, updated September 12, 2018

Efforts to Preserve Economic Benefits of the Iran Nuclear Deal, CRS In Focus, updated September 7, 2018

The Nordic Countries and U.S. Relations, CRS In Focus, updated September 13, 2018

Labor Enforcement Issues in U.S. Free Trade Agreements, CRS In Focus, September 7, 2018

U.S.-Taiwan Trade Relations, CRS In Focus, updated September 11, 2018

Georgia: Background and U.S. Policy, September 5, 2018

Costs of Government Interventions in Response to the Financial Crisis: A Retrospective, updated September 12, 2018

Tax Policy and Disaster Recovery, CRS In Focus, updated September 11, 2018

National Flood Insurance Program Borrowing Authority, CRS Insight, updated September 10, 2018

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Reinsurance, and Catastrophe Bonds, CRS Insight, September 11, 2018

Senate Confirmation Votes on U.S. Supreme Court Nominations: Overview, CRS Insight, September 13, 2018

Craft Alcoholic Beverage Industry: Overview and Regulation, CRS In Focus, September 7, 2018

3D-Printed Guns: An Overview of Recent Legal Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 11, 2018