There were no less than 30 “national emergencies” in effect as of February 1, according to a tabulation prepared by the Congressional Research Service. An additional 21 national emergencies that are no longer in effect were also identified by CRS.
Under the National Emergencies Act, a declaration of national emergency can be used to activate presidential powers that would otherwise be unavailable. President Trump has suggested that he could declare a national emergency in order to begin construction of a “wall” along the U.S. border with Mexico without congressional authorization.
See Declarations under the National Emergencies Act, Part 1: Declarations Currently in Effect, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 1, 2019; and Declarations under the National Emergencies Act, Part 2: Declarations No Longer in Effect, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 1, 2019.
Together, the two reports replicate (with some variations) a table prepared lately by the Brennan Center for Justice, which has researched national emergency powers.
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Other new and noteworthy publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
The Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, CRS In Focus, January 30, 2019
Executive Branch Ethics and Financial Conflicts of Interest: Disqualification, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 31, 2019
Fifth-Generation (5G) Telecommunications Technologies: Issues for Congress, January 30, 2019
Selecting the World Bank President, updated January 23, 2019
Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions, CRS In Focus, updated February 1, 2019
U.S.-European Relations in the 116th Congress, CRS In Focus, February 4, 2019
The U.S. Intelligence Community: Homeland Security Issues in the 116th Congress, CRS Insight, updated February 1, 2019
“Migrant Protection Protocols”: Legal Issues Related to DHS’s Plan to Require Arriving Asylum Seekers to Wait in Mexico, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 1, 2019
Drug Trafficking at the Southwest Border: Homeland Security Issues in the 116th Congress, CRS Insight, updated January 31, 2019
The CIA has around 140 projects involving or related to artificial intelligence, CRS noted (citing a 2017 story in DefenseOne). See Artificial Intelligence and National Security, updated January 30, 2019
U.S. Withdrawal from the INF Treaty, CRS Insight, updated February 1, 2019
Evaluating Possible U.S. Troop Withdrawals from Hostile Areas, CRS Insight, February 1, 2019
In anticipation of future known and unknown health security threats, including new pandemics, biothreats, and climate-related health emergencies, our answers need to be much faster, cheaper, and less disruptive to other operations.
To unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence within the Department of Health and Human Services, an AI Corps should be established, embedding specialized AI experts within each of the department’s 10 agencies.
Investing in interventions behind the walls is not just a matter of improving conditions for incarcerated individuals—it is a public safety and economic imperative. By reducing recidivism through education and family contact, we can improve reentry outcomes and save billions in taxpayer dollars.
The U.S. government should establish a public-private National Exposome Project (NEP) to generate benchmark human exposure levels for the ~80,000 chemicals to which Americans are regularly exposed.