The Congressional Research Service says that, as a constitutional matter, it will be up to Congress to determine whether and how to reorganize the management of US national security assets in space, and whether to establish a new “space force,” as the Trump Administration has proposed.
“The constitutional framework appears to contemplate that the role of establishing, organizing, regulating, and providing resources for the Armed Forces belongs to Congress, while the President is in charge of commanding the forces Congress has established using the funds Congress has provided,” CRS said in a new publication. See Toward the Creation of a U.S. “Space Force”, CRS In Focus, August 16, 2018.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Hazing in the Armed Forces, CRS In Focus, August 9, 2018
Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Research Efforts in the Military, CRS In Focus, August 17, 2018
Election Security: Issues in the 2018 Midterm Elections, CRS Insight, August 16, 2018
Supreme Court Appointment Process: Consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee, updated August 14, 2018
IRS Will No Longer Require Disclosure of Certain Nonprofit Donor Information, CRS Legal Sidebar, August 14, 2018
Can the President Pardon Contempt of Court? Probably Yes, CRS Legal Sidebar, August 10, 2018
Overview of U.S.-South Korea Agricultural Trade, August 8, 2018
Proposed U.S.-EU Trade Negotiations: Hitting Pause on a Trade War?, CRS Insight, August 9, 2018
Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in the United States, updated August 9, 2018
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), updated August 9, 2018
Strange Occurrences Highlight Insider Threat to Aviation Security, CRS Insight, August 14, 2018
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.