Judicial Vacancies Rose Under Obama, & More from CRS
The number of district court vacancies during the Obama presidency grew from 41 vacancies in January 2009 to 75 vacancies in September 2016 — an unusual 83% increase, according to a new assessment from the Congressional Research Service.
By contrast, the number of vacancies decreased over the course of the George W. Bush Administration from 58 to 32 (a 45% decrease) and over the course of the Clinton Administration from 93 to 42 (a 55% decrease).
See U.S. District Court Vacancies: Overview and Comparative Analysis, CRS Insight, September 14, 2016
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
U.S. Circuit Court Vacancies: Overview and Comparative Analysis, CRS Insight, September 14, 2016
How a National Infrastructure Bank Might Work, CRS Insight, September 15, 2016
International Food Aid Programs: Background and Issues, updated September 14, 2016
FDA Regulation of Medical Devices, updated September 14, 2016
Prospects in Colombia: Cease-Fire, Peace Accord Vote, and Potential Disrupters, CRS Insight, September 14, 2016
Nicaragua: In Brief, September 14, 2016
Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress, updated September 14, 2016
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.
FAS is launching the Center for Regulatory Ingenuity (CRI) to build a new, transpartisan vision of government that works – that has the capacity to achieve ambitious goals while adeptly responding to people’s basic needs.
This runs counter to public opinion: 4 in 5 of all Americans, across party lines, want to see the government take stronger climate action.