Policy Library

7,020 documents

Farm Bill Primer: Trade and Export Promotion Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-18 · Resources · 1,431 words · PDF available
Agricultural exports are significant to farmers and the U.S. economy. With the productivity of U.S. agriculture growing faster than domestic demand, farmers and agriculturally oriented firms rely on e...
Germany’s Chancellor Merz goes to Washington
Brookings Institution · 2025-06-17 · Article · 1,456 words
For Trump, the visit held no special importance. For Merz, in contrast, the stakes of the visit could not have been higher.
How can Europe defend Ukraine?
Brookings Institution · 2025-06-17 · Article · 2,003 words
The most important thing Europe can do is invest in Ukraine’s defense industrial base and its national capabilities.
How must Europe reorganize its conventional defense?
Brookings Institution · 2025-06-17 · Article · 2,968 words · PDF available
The objective should not be to compensate like-for-like the role that the United States is currently playing in European defense.
Should Europeans develop an independent nuclear deterrent?
Brookings Institution · 2025-06-17 · Article · 3,208 words
The biggest challenge today is shaping developments so that Europe does not fall into a "deterrence gap" as a result of U.S. repositioning.
Civil Procedure at the Supreme Court: Selected Cases from the October 2024 Term
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-17 · Posts · 2,883 words · PDF available
During the October 2024 term, the Supreme Court considered multiple cases focused on procedural issues. Among them were cases raising questions related to jurisdiction over suits removed from state co...
Indian Water Rights Settlements
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-17 · Reports · 13,907 words · PDF available
In the second half of the 19th century, the federal government pursued a policy of confining Native American Tribes to reservations. The federal statutes and treaties reserving such land for tribal re...
Military Applications of Extended Reality
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-17 · Resources · 1,340 words · PDF available
Although commercial and consumer industries have been investing in extended reality (XR) for decades, recent advances have expanded the number of potential applications for the U.S. military. As such,...
Iran’s Ballistic Missile Programs: Background and Context
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-17 · Resources · 1,666 words · PDF available
Iran’s ballistic missile programs have long been subjects of congressional attention and legislative action in view of concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and its support for terrorist groups. Inter...
Legislative Branch: FY2025 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-17 · Reports · 13,744 words · PDF available
The legislative branch appropriations bill provides funding for the Senate; House of Representatives; Joint Items; Capitol Police; Office of Congressional Workplace Rights; Congressional Budget Office...
Commemorations in Congress: Options for Honoring Individuals, Groups, and Events
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-17 · Reports · 11,709 words · PDF available
Since its inception, Congress has used commemorative legislation to express public gratitude for distinguished contributions; dramatize the virtues of individuals, groups, and causes; and perpetuate t...
Israel strikes Iran. What happens next?
Brookings Institution · 2025-06-16 · Article · 3,755 words · PDF available
Brookings scholars examine the implications of Israel's surprise attack on Iran for the region and beyond.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Budget: Background, Trends, and Policy Options
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Reports · 10,476 words · PDF available
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank, P.L. 111-203). Dodd-Frank specified that the CFPB would b...
The Limitation on Itemized Deductions in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (House-Passed Version)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Reports · 7,988 words · PDF available
Itemized deductions are a type of tax benefit that allow certain taxpayers to reduce their taxable incomes, or the amount of income subject to taxation. Itemized deductions may only be claimed by taxp...
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Supplemental Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Reports · 7,745 words · PDF available
Congress has passed supplemental appropriations to fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the Department of Defense to carry out authorized emergency disaster-related activities, to construc...
The Army’s XM-30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle (Formerly Known as the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle [OMFV])
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Resources · 1,416 words · PDF available
Background The Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) is being designed to replace the M-2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) (see Figure 1 for a notional example). Optionally manned me...
Recent Developments Regarding New and Existing Payment Models at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Resources · 1,776 words · PDF available
Introduction On March 12, 2025, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced it would terminate several alternative paym...
Responding to Drought in the Colorado River Basin
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Posts · 1,024 words · PDF available
The Colorado River Basin covers more than 246,000 square miles in seven U.S. states and Mexico. Basin waters are governed by multiple documents, known collectively as the Law of the River. The Colorad...
Landsat, What’s Next?
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Posts · 1,021 words · PDF available
In 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) presented initial details about Landsat Next, a proposed mission to continue the Landsat series ...
Generative Artificial Intelligence and Copyright Law
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Posts · 3,652 words · PDF available
Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) have raised several new questions in the field of copyright law. Generative AI programs—such as Open AI’s DALL-E and ChatGPT programs, Stability AI’s Stable...
Concurrent Receipt of Military Retired Pay and Veteran Disability: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-16 · Reports · 9,742 words · PDF available
Concurrent receipt is the term used to describe the simultaneous receipt of two types of federal monetary benefits. In the military context, this often describes the simultaneous receipt of military r...
Russia-North Korea Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Resources · 1,600 words · PDF available
Overview Since 2022, the Russian Federation (Russia) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) have taken steps to formally strengthen their bilateral relationship. Russian ...
Health Coverage Provisions in One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Reports · 14,415 words · PDF available
On May 22, 2025, the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA; H.R. 1), which provides for budget reconciliation pursuant to Title II of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY2025 (H...
Technical Challenges with Private Health Insurance Price Transparency Data
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Reports · 10,192 words · PDF available
According to the 2024 U.S. Census Current Population Survey Annual and Social Economic Supplement, over 216 million people in the United States had private health insurance in 2023. That year, private...
Medicare Coverage: Background and Resources
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Resources · 1,595 words · PDF available
This In Focus provides an overview of Medicare coverage of services and items, coverage determination processes, and core resources on these topics for beneficiaries, health care providers, and policy...
Ukrainian Military Performance and Outlook
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Resources · 1,626 words · PDF available
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have been increasingly challenged to defend against Russian advances, given ongoing disadvan...
Immigration Arrests in the Interior of the United States: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Posts · 3,422 words · PDF available
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is primarily responsible for immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States. ICE...
Defense Primer: Reserve Forces
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-13 · Resources · 1,249 words · PDF available
The term reserve component (RC) refers collectively to the seven individual reserve components of the Armed Forces. Congress exercises authority over the reserve components under its constitutional au...
Q&A: Higher Ed Accreditation
Third Way · 2025-06-12 · Memo · 2,655 words
Third Way is a center-left think tank that champions modern solutions to the most challenging problems in US public policy, including the economy, climate and energy, national security, social policy,...
Congress Repeals Rule That Would Have Subjected Large, Nonbank Digital Wallet and Payment App Providers to CFPB Supervision
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,659 words · PDF available
On December 10, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a final rule bringing certain nonbank digital payment and digital wallet companies under its supervisory regime, allowin...
Pharmaceutical Patent Disputes: Generic Entry for Small-Molecule Drugs Under the Hatch-Waxman Act
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,300 words · PDF available
Patent rights play an important role in the development and pricing of pharmaceutical drugs. Patent law seeks to encourage innovation by granting the holder of a valid patent a temporary monopoly on a...
Pharmaceutical Patent Disputes: Biosimilar Entry Under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,351 words · PDF available
Patent rights play an important role in the development and pricing of pharmaceuticals, including biological products (biologics). Patent law seeks to encourage innovation by granting the patent holde...
H.R. 1 Limitation on Enforcement of Contempt Orders: Selected Legal Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Posts · 1,695 words · PDF available
Section 70302 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), as passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, would limit the authority of federal courts to enforce contempt citations for failu...
The CBP Home Mobile Application and “Self-Departure”
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,499 words · PDF available
On May 9, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation, “Establishing Project Homecoming,” to give certain aliens (any person not a U.S. citizen or national) without lawful status in the United States ...
Introduction to Financial Services: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,428 words · PDF available
Congress passed the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (P.L. 73-291) to create the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the wake of the stock market crash in 1929 to help restore confidence in cap...
Evaluating the Defense Production Act
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Testimony · 5,921 words · PDF available
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Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Reports · 4,249 words · PDF available
Historically, Egypt has been an important country for U.S. national security interests based on its geography, demography, and diplomatic posture. Egypt controls the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869 a...
DOD Cost Overruns and The Nunn-McCurdy Act
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,566 words · PDF available
Since the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) establishment, Congress has expressed interest in ensuring that DOD procures major weapons systems efficiently, including that a program maintain the same ...
Class-Wide Scheduling of Fentanyl-Related Substances (FRS)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Posts · 1,033 words · PDF available
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has recognized medical uses in pain management; it is a Schedule II controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Fentanyl analogues, in g...
Status of Federal Implementation of EV Charging Infrastructure
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Posts · 1,041 words · PDF available
Shifts in policy priorities around electric vehicles (EVs) and other actions taken by the second Trump Administration have been followed by legal challenges and further perspectives regarding the fede...
Statutory PAYGO and Budget Reconciliation Legislation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Posts · 709 words · PDF available
This Insight provides a brief overview of statutory PAYGO, its application to reconciliation legislation, and the ways in which it has been addressed in relation to previously enacted budget reconcili...
The Motion to Recommit in the House
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Reports · 3,070 words · PDF available
The motion to recommit in the House of Representatives proposes to send legislation under consideration on the floor back to committee. A Member may move to recommit a measure prior to a vote on final...
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2026 Budget Request Fact Sheet
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Reports · 2,053 words · PDF available
This report provides a brief overview of the President’s FY2026 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It links to relevant Administration budget documents and CRS r...
The U.S. Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW): Dark Eagle
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-12 · Resources · 1,440 words · PDF available
What Is the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon? The Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), also known as Dark Eagle (Figure 1), with a reported range of 1,725 miles, consists of a ground-launche...
Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-11 · Reports · 26,956 words · PDF available
Coast Guard plans call for procuring a combination of National Security Cutters (NSCs), Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs) and Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) as replacements for 90 earlier-generation Coast ...
The Federal Communications Commission: FY2026 Performance Plan and Selected Actions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-11 · Resources · 1,707 words · PDF available
Introduction On May 30, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its 2026 Budget Estimates to Congress. The budget includes a Performance Plan for FY2026 (hereinafter “FCC Performanc...
The Rulemaking Process for the Higher Education Act’s Title IV Regulations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-11 · Infographics · 884 words · PDF available
/ The Rulemaking Process for the Higher Education Act's Title IV Regulations Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) authorizes an array of programs and provisions to assist students and their ...
Defense Primer: Military Enlisted Personnel
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-11 · Resources · 649 words · PDF available
Grade and Rank The Armed Forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. These different levels are called grades, while rank refers to the order of precedence among th...
A Brief Overview of FEMA’s Public Assistance Program
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-11 · Resources · 1,234 words · PDF available
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) program provides financial and direct federal assistance (e.g., federal supplies, personnel) to states, tribes, and territories ...
Connecting Constituents with Federal Assistance for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects:Resources for Individuals
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-11 · Resources · 1,095 words · PDF available
Congress has established programs and tax incentives to help individuals reduce their household energy costs, or to install renewable energy technology in their homes. This In Focus presents a list of...