The Congressional Research Service continues to devote substantial attention to the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, even if the U.S. Senate remains unwilling or unable to act on the nomination. This week CRS issued a new report presenting an annotated tabulation of hundreds of decisions written by Judge Garland.
“To assist Members and committees of Congress and their staff in their ongoing research into Judge Garland’s approach to the law, this report identifies and briefly summarizes each of the more than 350 cases in which Judge Garland has authored a majority, concurring, or dissenting opinion. Arguably, these written opinions provide the greatest insight into Judge Garland’s judicial approach, as a judge’s vote in a case or decision to join an opinion authored by a colleague may be based upon a number of considerations and may not necessarily represent full agreement with a joined opinion.”
See Majority, Concurring, and Dissenting Opinions Authored by Judge Merrick Garland, May 2, 2016. (The larger implications of Judge Garland’s opinions were analyzed in a separate CRS report that was issued last week.)
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
China’s Natural Gas: Uncertainty for Markets, May 2, 2016
Synthetic Drugs: Overview and Issues for Congress, updated May 3, 2016
Funding of Presidential Nominating Conventions: An Overview, updated May 4, 2016
Green Infrastructure and Issues in Managing Urban Stormwater, updated May 2, 2016
DHS Budget v. DHS Appropriations: Fact Sheet, May 2, 2016
Overview of Commercial (Depository) Banking and Industry Conditions, May 3, 2016
Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed revoking its 2009 “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases pose a substantial threat to the public. The Federation of American Scientists stands in strong opposition.
Modernizing ClinicalTrials.gov will empower patients, oncologists, and others to better understand what trials are available, where they are available, and their up-to-date eligibility criteria, using standardized search categories to make them more easily discoverable.
The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 4420, the Cool Corridors Act of 2025, which would reauthorize the Healthy Streets program through 2030 and seeks to increase green and other shade infrastructure in high-heat areas.
The current lack of public trust in AI risks inhibiting innovation and adoption of AI systems, meaning new methods will not be discovered and new benefits won’t be felt. A failure to uphold high standards in the technology we deploy will also place our nation at a strategic disadvantage compared to our competitors.