New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Tit-for-Tat Tariff Measures and U.S. Trade Policy, CRS Insight, July 11, 2018 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Incentives: A Summary of Federal Programs, updated July 11, 2018 Military Transition Assistance Program (TAP): An Overview, CRS In Focus, updated July 12, 2018 Risk and […]
Today’s national security classification system is unsustainable, says a new annual report to the President from the government’s Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). It is “hamstrung by old practices and outdated technology” and a new, government-wide technology strategy will be required “to combat inaccurate classification and promote more timely declassification.” The secrecy system has expanded […]
What is the role of ethics in intelligence and at the CIA in particular? “Some former employees and others with experience at the agency have been critical of CIA’s ethics program as focusing too much on legal compliance in a reactive, ad hoc manner that falls short of a comprehensive approach to ethics education at […]
For the first time in its history, the Department of Defense is now undergoing a financial audit. The audit, announced last December, is itself a major undertaking that is expected to cost $367 million and to involve some 1200 auditors. The results are to be reported in November 2018. “Until this year, DoD was the […]
With the announcement of Justice Kennedy’s retirement from the US Supreme Court, the Congressional Research Service issued several new and updated reports on the nomination process and related issues. Justice Kennedy Retires: Initial Considerations for Congress, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 28, 2018 President’s Selection of a Nominee for a Supreme Court Vacancy: Overview, CRS Insight, […]
Government prosecutors have been aggressively pursuing suspected leakers of classified information: Reality Winner, accused of disclosing a document “information relating to the national defense” to a news outlet, changed her plea this week from “not guilty” to “guilty.” Former FBI agent Terry J. Albury likewise pleaded guilty last April to unauthorized retention and disclosure of […]
Many executive branch agencies have significant backlogs of Freedom of Information Act requests that could be reduced by adopting procedural improvements. And some agencies have made such improvements, a new report from the Government Accountability Office says. Yet substantial backlogs remain. See Freedom of Information Act: Agencies Are Implementing Requirements but Additional Actions Are Needed, […]
During FY 2016, the Department of Homeland Security detained 352,880 noncitizens, the Congressional Research Service noted in a newly updated report, citing the most recent DHS statistics. See A Primer on U.S. Immigration Policy, June 22, 2018. Other recently issued CRS reports include the following. Enforcing U.S. Trade Laws: Section 301 and China, CRS In […]
The Congressional Research Service said this week that it will begin publishing some of its non-confidential reports on a publicly accessible congressional website by September 18, as required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act that was signed into law last March 23. “For the initial public release, the Library will make available in PDF format all of CRS’s […]
Military planners should not anticipate that the United States will ever dominate cyberspace, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a new doctrinal publication. The kind of supremacy that might be achievable in other domains is not a realistic option in cyber operations. “Permanent global cyberspace superiority is not possible due to the complexity of […]
The Justice Department has not reported to Congress on the government’s use of the state secrets privilege since 2011, the Department acknowledged this week, contrary to a policy promising regular reporting on the subject. In a 2009 statement of policy and procedures concerning the state secrets privilege, then-Attorney General Eric Holder said that “The Department […]
“The situation at the border and U.S. immigration authorities’ response to it has prompted significant attention and, in some cases, confusion regarding the governing laws and policies,” the Congressional Research Service said with some understatement in a new brief. The CRS document reviews the laws on admission and exclusion of aliens at the U.S. border, […]