The U.S. military is accelerating the development of prompt global strike weapons that are intended to allow the U.S. to hit targets anywhere on Earth on short notice using conventional weapons. The Department of Defense has requested increased funding in FY 2019 for prompt global strike weapons — $278 million, up from $201 million in […]
This week China imposed tariffs on imports of various U.S. agricultural products in retaliation for Trump Administration tariffs on Chinese imports. Today the Administration announced that it would consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods in response. The impact of the Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports of pork meat, cherries, almonds, and […]
Increasing transparency in intelligence may help to build public trust, as Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said last month. But not all acts of transparency are likely to have that effect to the same degree, if at all. Some of the most powerful trust-building actions, we suggested, involve “admissions against interest,” or voluntary acknowledgements of error, […]
As Trump Administration trade policies generate national and global repercussions, the fundamentals of trade are presented in a new report from the Congressional Research Service to help understand what is happening and what is at stake. The report explains basic economic concepts, such as why countries trade, it provides data on U.S. trade relationships, and it describes […]
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats recently revised a 2012 Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) on “Civil Liberties and Privacy” to address transparency policy, and reissued it as “Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency.” The revised directive ICD 107 states that “the DNI is committed to protecting civil liberties and privacy and promoting greater public transparency, consistent with United States […]
FBI agent Terry J. Albury was charged last week with two violations of the Espionage Act statutes for disclosing classified information to a reporter for the Intercept. The charges, including unauthorized disclosure and unauthorized retention of national defense information, were formally presented by the Justice Department in a March 27 “Information.” See also “Minneapolis FBI agent charged […]
Public transportation systems across the United States are losing riders. Excluding gains in New York City, national ridership decreased by 7% over the past decade. A new report from the Congressional Research Service examines the causes and consequences of this decline. See Trends in Public Transportation Ridership: Implications for Federal Policy, March 26, 2018. Other new […]
The total number of persons holding security clearances for access to classified information dropped to just over 4 million at the end of FY 2016, according to a long-delayed government report that was partially released on Wednesday. But the backlog of clearances awaiting investigation and adjudication has continued to grow. See FY 2016 Annual Report on Security […]
All non-confidential reports of the Congressional Research Service must be made publicly available online through a Government Publishing Office website within 90 to 270 days under a provision of the 2018 omnibus appropriations act that was passed by Congress and signed by the President last week. The move is the culmination of more than two […]
Threats to the U.S. electric power grid in recent years, including actual attacks on transmission substations, have prompted utilities and regulators to adopt various steps to enhance grid security. A new report from the Congressional Research Service reviews the observable changes in security practices to date and discusses the current threat environment. See NERC Standards […]
The number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. nuclear stockpile dropped to 3,822 as of September 30, 2017, down from 4,018 a year earlier. (Retired weapons awaiting dismantlement are not included in the totals.)The totals do not include weapons that are retired and awaiting dismantlement.) Meanwhile, 354 nuclear weapons were dismantled in 2017, up from 258 […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The US nuclear weapons stockpile dropped to 3,822 warheads by September 2017 – down nearly 200 warheads from the last year of the Obama administration, according to new information released by the Department of Defense in response to a request from the Federation of American Scientists (see here for full document). […]