Newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf).
“China’s Currency: Economic Issues and Options for U.S. Trade Policy,” updated January 9, 2008.
“Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy,” updated January 14, 2008.
“Future of the Balkans and U.S. Policy Concerns,” updated January 10, 2008.
“Venezuela: Political Conditions and U.S. Policy,” updated January 11, 2008.
“Pakistan-U.S. Relations,” updated January 11, 2008.
“North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?,” updated January 14, 2008.
“Long-Range Ballistic Missile Defense in Europe,” updated January 9, 2008.
“Freedom of Information Act Amendments: 110th Congress,” updated January 7, 2008.
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.