New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service which Congress has directed CRS not to release to the public include the following.
Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations, January 4, 2013
The “Fiscal Cliff” and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, January 4, 2012
Proposals to Change the Operation of Cloture in the Senate, January 3, 2013
International Trade and Finance: Key Policy Issues for the 113th Congress, January 4, 2013
Speakers of the House: Elections, 1913-2013, January 4, 2013
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Claims of Property Rights “Takings”, January 7, 2013
The Role of TARP Assistance in the Restructuring of General Motors, January 3, 2013
Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, January 4, 2013
U.S.-Taiwan Relationship: Overview of Policy Issues, January 4, 2013
North Korea: U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation, January 4, 2013
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.