The Constitution’s Take Care Clause, and More from CRS
The so-called Take Care Clause in the U.S. Constitution (requiring that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed….”) “would appear to stand for two, at times diametrically opposed propositions–one imposing a ‘duty’ upon the President and the other viewing the Clause as a source of Presidential ‘power’,” according to a new study from the Congressional Research Service. See The Take Care Clause and Executive Discretion in the Enforcement of Law, September 4, 2014.
Other recent CRS products obtained by Secrecy News include the following.
The Doctrine of Constitutional Avoidance: A Legal Overview, September 2, 2014
Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, updated September 8, 2014
Libya: Transition and U.S. Policy, updated September 8, 2014
Asylum and Gang Violence: Legal Overview, September 5, 2014
Defense Surplus Equipment Disposal, Including the Law Enforcement 1033 Program, updated September 5, 2014
Aviation War Risk Insurance: Background and Options for Congress, September 5, 2014
Medal of Honor: History and Issues, updated September 5, 2014
Protection of Trade Secrets: Overview of Current Law and Legislation, September 5, 2014
China’s Leaders Quash Hong Kong’s Hopes for Democratic Election Reforms, CRS Insights, September 5, 2014
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.