Some noteworthy new (or newly acquired) reports of the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf).
“Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations,” May 17, 2007.
“U.S.-Funded Assistance Programs in China,” May 18, 2007.
“North Korean Provocative Actions, 1950-2007,” updated April 20, 2007.
“North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?,” updated April 6, 2007.
“The North Korean Economy: Overview and Policy Analysis,” updated April 18, 2007.
“Presidential Directives: Background and Overview,” updated April 23, 2007.
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.