Policy Library

18 documents

Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Reports · 23,991 words · PDF available
The Navy’s Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) aims to design and build a class of 12 new SSBNs to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. Since 2013, t...
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Resources · 1,425 words · PDF available
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is responsible for the oversight and direction of the 18 elements of the intelligence community (IC). This includes managing the allocation and expenditure ...
Export-Import Bank: Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Resources · 1,824 words · PDF available
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank, or the Bank) is the U.S. government’s export credit agency (ECA) and is among at least 117 ECAs across more than 90 economies globally. A wholl...
Status of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Reports · 4,494 words · PDF available
This report provides an overview of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations, including relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparis...
Congressional and Executive Authority Over Foreign Trade Agreements
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Reports · 20,820 words · PDF available
This report examines the constitutional powers of Congress and the President over foreign trade agreements, the respective roles the legislative and executive branches have played in selected trade ag...
Water Resources Development Acts: Primer and Action in the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Resources · 1,538 words · PDF available
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is an agency that develops water resource projects, among other civil and military missions. Congress often considers omnibus legislation to authorize USACE wa...
Offshore Wind: Status and Issues for the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Resources · 1,749 words · PDF available
The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended (OCSLA, 43 U.S.C. §1337(p)), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to lease submerged lands on the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS) for developme...
Federal Energy Efficiency Standards Program: Background and Recent Developments
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 1,922 words · PDF available
The federal Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, a national program setting minimum efficiency standards for a variety of consumer and industrial products, was first authorized as a voluntary pr...
Expiration and Carryforward Rules for the Residential Clean Energy Credit
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 921 words · PDF available
P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 reconciliation law commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, repealed the residential clean energy credit (RCEC) for expenditures made after calendar year 2025. Since t...
The Potential Increase in Federal Student Loan Defaults in Fall 2025 (“Default Cliff”)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Resources · 1,483 words · PDF available
Recently, multiple news outlets and advocacy organizations have asserted that borrowers of federal student loans will soon face a so-called “default cliff.” The default cliff anticipates a significant...
Ninth Circuit Rules on FDA Regulation of HCT/Ps
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 2,670 words · PDF available
Human cells, tissues, or cellular or tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) consist of human cells or tissues that are intended for use in a human recipient. These products include stem cells and may be used ...
Pocket Rescissions and the Impoundment Control Act: Legal Authority and Options for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 2,296 words · PDF available
On July 24, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Rescissions Act of 2025. The statute marks the first time since 1992 that a President has successfully invoked the Impoundment Control A...
Pocket Rescissions and the Impoundment Control Act: Background and History
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 3,240 words · PDF available
On July 24, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Rescissions Act of 2025. The statute marks the first time since 1992 that a President has successfully invoked the Impoundment Control A...
Congressional Redistricting Criteria and Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 1,096 words · PDF available
Congressional redistricting involves creating geographic boundaries for U.S. House districts within a state. Following each decennial census, House districts are first allocated among states through a...
White House ready to use shutdown for mass firings
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-25 · Newsletter Article · 1,664 words
Dems sharpen budget attacks in advance of Oct. 1 funding deadline
Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Reports · 44,380 words · PDF available
Arms control and nonproliferation are two of the policy tools that the United States has used to implement its national security strategy. Although some believe these tools do little to restrain the b...
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Infographics · 522 words · PDF available
/ The Vacancies Act The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 When a Senate-confirmed executive officer “dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office,” the Fe...
What Happens If the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Lapses?
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-25 · Posts · 1,037 words · PDF available
This Insight provides a short overview of what would happen if the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) were not to be reauthorized by September 30, 2025, and allowed to lapse. Expiration of Certa...