For the third time, the Department of Defense is asking Congress to enact a new exemption from the Freedom of Information Act for certain military tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP), as well as rules of engagement, that are sensitive but unclassified. “The effectiveness of United States military operations is dependent upon adversaries, or potential adversaries, […]
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS, or drones) could be used by malicious actors to conduct unauthorized surveillance or to deliver hazardous payloads within the United States. But defending against such threats may violate the law as currently written. “Some of the most promising technical countermeasures for detecting and mitigating UAS may be construed to be illegal […]
President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change raises a series of legal, procedural and policy questions that have yet to be decisively answered, said the Congressional Research Service last week. Among those questions: Will the US follow the prescribed multi-year procedure for withdrawal? Or can the US […]
The ability to detect a clandestine nuclear explosion in order to verify a ban on nuclear testing and to detect violations has improved dramatically in the past two decades. There have been “technological and scientific revolutions in the fields of seismology, acoustics, and radionuclide sciences as they relate to nuclear explosion monitoring,” according to a […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Qatar and its Neighbors: Disputes and Possible Implications, CRS Insight, June 6, 2017 Burma’s Political Prisoners and U.S. Policy: In Brief, updated June 6, 2017 China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and Issues for Congress, updated June 6, 2017 […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Pentagon’s latest annual report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments describes a nuclear force that is similar to previous years but with a couple of important new developments in the pipeline. The most sensational nuclear news in the report is the conclusion that China is developing a new […]
The Congressional Research Service prepared 1,197 new reports and publications last year, as well as 2,471 updates of previous reports. The new reports were identified by title and number in an internal version of the CRS annual report for fiscal year 2016 that has not been previously made public. Among the notable 2016 reports listed […]
Updated below Core practices of open government are eroding in the Trump Administration, with new limitations on the ability of the press to effectively question officials on U.S. foreign policy. The problem is starkly illustrated by comparing the press briefing schedules of the State Department for May 2016 and May 2017. In May 2016, the […]
New and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Net Neutrality: Back to the Future, CRS Legal Sidebar, May 30, 2017 East Asia’s Foreign Exchange Rate Policies, updated May 26, 2017 U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Trends and Projections: Role of the Clean Power Plan and Other Factors, updated May 31, 2017 Respirable […]
Synthetic biology, a set of technologies related to the design and fabrication of biological systems, poses an emerging hazard but also provides the tools to mitigate that hazard, according to a new DoD report to Congress on defense against chemical and biological (CB) weapons. The new report “assesses DoD’s overall readiness to fight and win in […]
Individuals have a broad right to refuse to testify before Congress by invoking the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the Congressional Research Service explained last week. “Even a witness who denies any criminal wrongdoing can refuse to answer questions on the basis that he might be ‘ensnared by ambiguous circumstances’.” On the other hand, the […]
“There is no basis” for suggesting that President Trump’s disclosure of classified intelligence to Russian officials was illegal, wrote Morton Halperin this week. To the contrary, “senior U.S. government officials in conversations with foreign officials decide on a daily basis to provide them with information that is properly classified and that will remain classified,” wrote […]