Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, and More from CRS
The Obama Administration has requested $5 billion to create a new Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund (CTPF). The program would “build on existing tools and authorities” to establish a “more sustainable and effective” counterterrorism approach, focusing on building the counterterrorism capacity of partners worldwide through “train-and-equip” and other activities, according to the Congressional Research Service.
“The CTPF proposal raises many questions regarding counterterrorism strategy, roles, responsibilities, authorities, and Congressional oversight,” said CRS in a brief overview of the initiative. See The Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund (CTPF) Proposal: Questions for Congress, July 14.
In another new publication, CRS summarized current news reporting on Israel and Hamas: Another Round of Conflict, July 15.
The latest Administration funding request, largely for immigration and border security, was discussed by CRS in FY2014 Supplemental Appropriations Request.
Some other newly updated CRS reports include these:
Block Grants: Perspectives and Controversies, July 15, 2014
Membership of the 113th Congress: A Profile, July 14, 2014
Privacy Protection for Customer Financial Information, July 14, 2014
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, July 11, 2014
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.