Some notable recent reports of the Congressional Research Service that have not been readily available to the public include the following:
“China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues” (pdf), updated April 6, 2006.
“Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals” (pdf), updated April 5, 2006.
“Navy Ship Propulsion Technologies: Options for Reducing Oil Use — Background for Congress” (pdf), April 12, 2006.
“FY2006 Supplemental Appropriations: Iraq and Other International Activities; Additional Katrina Hurricane Relief” (pdf), updated April 14, 2006.
“Immigration Enforcement Within the United States” (pdf), April 6, 2006.
“Patent Reform: Issues in the Biomedical and Software Industries” (pdf), April 7, 2006.
“Oil Shale: History, Incentives, and Policy” (pdf), April 13, 2006.
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.