Four months after the retirement of the previous director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Daniel Mulhollan, no successor has been named. Today, the Library of Congress posted a solicitation on USA Jobs seeking applicants for the position of CRS Director.
“A successful candidate for this position should have thorough, substantive knowledge of the Congress as an institution and its operations. The candidate should have experience interacting with Members of Congress and their staffs, and should possess first-hand knowledge of congressional decision-making, processes, and procedures,” the job announcement said.
Anyone with ideas of opening up CRS to interactions with the larger world would not be welcome.
Applicants “should have a strong desire to work exclusively for Congress,” the announcement said, reflecting the legacy view that CRS should not be responsive to anyone but Congress, and should not even make non-confidential CRS publications available to the public.
Recent CRS reports that are not publicly available from CRS include the following (all pdf).
“Suicide, PTSD, and Substance Use Among OEF/OIF Veterans Using VA Health Care: Facts and Figures,” July 18, 2011
“The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress,” July 18, 2011
“Fairness Doctrine: History and Constitutional Issues,” July 13, 2011
“Chinese Tire Imports: Section 421 Safeguards and the World Trade Organization (WTO),” July 12, 2011
“State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2012 Budget and Appropriations,” July 22, 2011
“The Republic of South Sudan: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa’s Newest Country,” July 25, 2011
“Critical Infrastructures: Background, Policy and Implementation,” July 11, 2011
“National Security Letters: Proposals in the 112th Congress,” June 30, 2011
Denice Ross, former U.S. Chief Data Scientist and Data Policy Institute lead at the Federation of American Scientists, will be honored for her stewardship of public data by the National Academy of Public Administration, where she has been named a Fellow.
Confirmation that the construction of the security perimeter and associated security infrastructure at RAF Lakenheath are still ongoing once again raises questions about whether U.S. nuclear weapons have already been deployed to the base.
Alaskans are sensibly pulling back from the vogue for bans and returning to a western tradition that has worked for more than half a century – one that welcomes innovation but also oversees it closely.
The strength of our nation’s data policy isn’t just in the rules we write, but in how effectively we translate those rules into a system that prioritizes the public good. Join us in this movement to design and build more resilient national data policies.