When Congress and the President fail to agree on government appropriations and previous funding expires, the result can be a massively disruptive shutdown of the federal government. This occurred most recently in October 2013, and lasted for 16 days.
“Government shutdowns have necessitated furloughs of several hundred thousand federal employees, required cessation or reduction of many government activities, and affected numerous sectors of the economy,” according to a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. See Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Processes, and Effects, updated May 5, 2017.
“Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!” tweeted President Trump last week.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Job Creation in the Manufacturing Revival, updated May 5, 2017
The Meaning of “Made in U.S.A.”, updated May 5, 2017
Review of Offshore Energy Leasing: President Trump’s Executive Order, CRS Insight, May 5, 2017
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, updated May 5, 2017
Iran’s Presidential Elections, CRS Insight, May 5, 2017
In recent months, we’ve seen much of these decades’ worth of progress erased. Contracts for evaluations of government programs were canceled, FFRDCs have been forced to lay off staff, and federal advisory committees have been disbanded.
This report outlines a framework relying on “Cooperative Technical Means” for effective arms control verification based on remote sensing, avoiding on-site inspections but maintaining a level of transparency that allows for immediate detection of changes in nuclear posture or a significant build-up above agreed limits.
At a recent workshop, we explored the nature of trust in specific government functions, the risk and implications of breaking trust in those systems, and how we’d known we were getting close to specific trust breaking points.
tudents in the 21st century need strong critical thinking skills like reasoning, questioning, and problem-solving, before they can meaningfully engage with more advanced domains like digital, data, or AI literacy.