Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all pdf).
“Mexico’s Drug-Related Violence,” May 27, 2009.
“The 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) ‘Swine Flu’ Outbreak: U.S. Responses to Global Human Cases,” May 26, 2009.
“The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11,” updated May 15, 2009.
“USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives After 15 Years: Issues for Congress,” May 27, 2009.
“Airport Improvement Program (AIP): Reauthorization Issues for Congress,” May 29, 2009.
“Identity Theft: Trends and Issues,” May 27, 2009.
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.