The Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123), signed into law on February 9, 2018, created a joint select committee of the House and Senate. The Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations...
Delegation of Federal Aviation Administration Certification Authorities to Aviation Manufacturers
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certifies pilots, aircraft, and aircraft components, as well as airlines and charter flight operators. It requires that aircraft and component design specific...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): FY2019 Budget Request and Appropriations
The mission of the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is to understand and predict changes in weather, climate, oceans, and coasts; to share that infor...
Federal District Court Enjoins the Department of Homeland Security from Terminating Temporary Protected Status
Update: In February 2019, several months after this Sidebar was originally published, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging the Department...
Huawei v. United States: The Bill of Attainder Clause and Huawei’s Lawsuit Against the United States
On March 6, 2019, Chinese electronics manufacturing and telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. (Huawei) filed a lawsuit against the United States, challenging the constitutionality of a law ...
Special Counsel Investigations: History, Authority, Appointment and Removal
The Constitution vests Congress with the legislative power, which includes authority to establish federal agencies and conduct oversight of those entities. Criminal investigations and prosecutions, ho...
History and Enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act, VRA, Supreme Court, Fourteenth Amendment, Fifteenth Amendment, voting, elections, coverage formula, Shelby County v. Holder, preclearance requirement, redistricting
The President’s Authority to Withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Without Further Congressional Action
NAFTA is an international trade agreement among the United States, Canada, and Mexico that became effective on January 1, 1994. The agreement includes market-opening provisions that remove tariff and ...
Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 6 (116th Congress)
On January 3, 2019, the House adopted Title I of H.Res. 6, the standing rules for the House of Representatives for the 116th Congress. In addition to the standing rules, H.Res. 6 included a separate o...
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations for FY2019: In Brief
Final FY2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations were enacted on February 15, 2019 as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 11...
Federal Records: Types and Treatments
The Federal Records Act
The Federal Records Act (FRA; 44 U.S.C. Chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33), enacted in 1950 and amended since, governs the collection, retention, and preservation of federal agency r...
Overview of Legal Challenges to the FCC’s 5G Order on Small Cell Siting
On September 26, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Declaratory Ruling and Third Report and Order, titled “Accelerating Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to I...