The number of people in the Department of Defense holding security clearances for access to classified information declined by 100,000 in the first six months of FY2015. There are now 3.8 million DoD employees and contractors with security clearances, down from 3.9 million earlier in the year, and a steep 17.4% drop from 4.6 million […]
If protesters are arrested for disrupting the proceedings of the U.S. Supreme Court through angry speech, is that a violation of their First Amendment rights? The question was analyzed by the Congressional Research Service. See Haranguing in the Court, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 6, 2015. Other new and updated products of the Congressional Research Service […]
The Internet in Russia is a battleground between activists who would use it as a tool of political and cultural freedom and government officials who see it as a powerful instrument of political control, write investigative journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan in their new book The Red Web. For now, the government appears to […]
If President Obama vetoes the pending FY2016 defense authorization bill, “it would mark the fifth time since 1961, when Congress enacted the first annual defense authorization bill, that a president has vetoed that measure,” according to the Congressional Research Service. See Presidential Vetoes of Annual Defense Authorization Bills, CRS Insight, October 1, 2015. New and […]
The U.S. government blocked dozens of life science experiments over the past decade because they were deemed to pose undue risks to public health and safety. Between 2006 and 2013, researchers submitted 618 potentially restricted experiment proposals for review by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Division of Select Agents and Toxins (DSAT), according to […]
The Congressional Research Service has produced a bibliography on domestic surveillance to support this year’s national high school debate program which is devoted to that subject. “Resolved: The United States Federal Government Should Substantially Curtail Its Domestic Surveillance” is the topic that was selected for the 2015-2016 high school debate by representatives of the National […]
Before the Department of Defense can use an unmanned aerial system within the United States for domestic operations such as search and rescue missions or disaster response, specific authorization from the Secretary of Defense is necessary. However, if DoD wants to use a UAS to help control domestic civil disturbances (such as a riot or […]
When government contractors fail to fulfill a contract or engage in some form of misconduct, there are various ways to hold them legally accountable, a new reportfrom the Congressional Research Service explains. “This report provides an overview of selected legal mechanisms that the federal government could rely upon in holding contractors accountable for deficiencies in their […]
The Central Intelligence Agency has improperly classified and withheld from release at least five categories of information related to its post-9/11 rendition, detention and interrogation program, according to a detailed complaint filed by Openthegovernment.org with the Information Security Oversight Office. Classification of this information has impeded government accountability for the controversial CIA programs and derailed […]
New and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News include the following. The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress, September 18, 2015 Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, updated September 18, 2015 China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and […]
China’s military research and development program is organized around 16 “national megaprojects” that are intended to advance and transform that country’s capabilities in core technology areas including electronics, aerospace, clean energy, and so on. Three of the 16 national projects are classified and have not been officially acknowledged. But in a recently published US Army […]
How should a congressional committee respond when a witness before the Committee asserts his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and refuses to provide the testimony or documents sought by investigators? The options available to the Committee were discussed by the Congressional Research Service in a new memorandum. See The Fifth Amendment in Congressional Investigations, CRS […]