Dept of Defense Role in Foreign Assistance, and More from CRS
The structure, development and ramifications of growing U.S. Department of Defense foreign assistance activities are described in a major new report from the Congressional Research Service. See “The Department of Defense Role in Foreign Assistance: Background, Major Issues, and Options for Congress” (pdf), August 25, 2008.
Other noteworthy new reports from CRS that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf).
“Pay-for-Performance: The National Security Personnel System,” September 17, 2008.
“The Defense Base Act (DBA): The Federally Mandated Workers’ Compensation System for Overseas Government Contractors,” September 15, 2008.
“The North Korean Economy: Leverage and Policy Analysis,” updated August 26, 2008.
“Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments,” updated August 21, 2008.
“Periods of War,” updated August 19, 2008.
“The Manhattan Project, the Apollo Program, and Federal Energy Technology R&D Programs: A Comparative Analysis,” September 3, 2008.
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has been laying the foundation to expand the use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) for energy infrastructure and supply chains.
Get it right, and pooled hiring becomes a model for how the federal government decides what to do together and what to do apart. That’s a bigger prize than faster hiring. It’s a more functional government.
As of March 2026, there were at least nine documented U.S. wrongful arrests tied to face recognition misidentification. Errors like these are as much human as machine.
No one will be surprised if we end up with a continuing resolution to push our shutdown deadline out past the midterms, so the real question is what else will they get done this summer?