Some new or updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf).
Security Assistance Reform: “Section 1206” Background and Issues for Congress, January 13, 2012
The Berry Amendment: Requiring Defense Procurement To Come From Domestic Sources, January 13, 2012
In Brief: Assessing DOD’s New Strategic Guidance, January 12, 2012
Circular A-76 and the Moratorium on DOD Competitions: Background and Issues for Congress, January 17, 2012
The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Background, Funding and Activities, January 13, 2012
Nuclear Power Plant Design and Seismic Safety Considerations, January 12, 2012
Chemical Facility Security: Issues and Options for the 112th Congress, January 13, 2012
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.