Policy Library

7,020 documents

The signal and substance of the new Saudi-Pakistan defense pact
Brookings Institution · 2025-09-24 · Article · 2,230 words · PDF available
Countries across the region may rightly view the Saudi-Pakistan defense pact as a hedge against over-dependence on great powers, and may well seek to do the same.
Democrats add back U.S. House seat in Arizona
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-24 · Newsletter Article · 62 words
Trump cancels any shutdown meeting with top Dems
More is More: An All-of-the-Above Strategy for America’s Energy Cost Crisis
Third Way · 2025-09-24 · Memo · 2,041 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,...
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Reports · 9,089 words · PDF available
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires U.S. transportation fuel to include a minimum volume of renewable fuel each year. The RFS—established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05; P.L. 109-58)...
Honduras: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Resources · 1,633 words · PDF available
Honduras historically has been a close U.S. partner in Central America. Recurrent instability and weak rule of law have hindered Honduras’s development, however, and contributed to transnational chall...
The National Firearms Act and P.L. 119-21: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Resources · 1,751 words · PDF available
The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) established registration and tax requirements for specified items defined as “firearms” by the statute. Covered weapons include, among others, short-barreled sh...
Colombia’s Antidrug Efforts and the “Failed Demonstrably” Designation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Posts · 928 words · PDF available
On September 15, 2025, President Trump determined Colombia had “failed demonstrably,” for the first time in nearly 30 years, to meet its international counternarcotics obligations and to take the meas...
Professional Program Exceptions Would Swallow the Rule on Loan Limits
Third Way · 2025-09-24 · Blog · 1,072 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,...
The Republican Health Care Price Hike
Third Way · 2025-09-24 · Memo · 646 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,...
Enhanced Premium Tax Credit Expiration: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Reports · 3,460 words · PDF available
Although the premium tax credit (PTC) has been available since 2014, there is increased congressional interest in the federal subsidy due to the impending expiration of a provision that enhanced the P...
Expiring Health Provisions of the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Reports · 5,245 words · PDF available
This report provides information on selected health provisions that have expired or are scheduled to expire during the 119th Congress (i.e., calendar years [CYs] 2025 and 2026). For purposes of this r...
House Committee Funding: Process and Historical Appropriations and Authorizations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-24 · Reports · 9,136 words · PDF available
This report provides an overview of funding for committees in the House of Representatives. In particular, it includes information on House consideration of the biennial committee funding resolution f...
A bromance revived: Erdoğan returns to the White House after 4 years
Brookings Institution · 2025-09-23 · Article · 1,539 words
Erdoğan's White House visit will be a reunion of two leaders with similar views about the global order and who govern with increasingly similar instincts.
Border numbers tick up in August - but remain very low
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-23 · Newsletter Article · 1,805 words
Bipartisan group presses to kill 'coffee tax'
Access denied | www.heritage.org used Cloudflare to restrict access
Heritage Foundation · 2025-09-23 · Commentary · 68 words
The owner of this website (www.heritage.org) has banned you temporarily from accessing this website.
Identifying Minors Online
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-23 · Reports · 10,594 words · PDF available
Concerns about potential harms to minors on the internet, particularly on social media platforms, have grown in recent years. Dating to the 1990s, policymakers have enacted legislation seeking to prot...
The Weatherization Assistance Program Formula
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-23 · Reports · 10,993 words · PDF available
The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) enables low-income families to reduce their energy consumption by making their dwellings more energy efficient. The WAP was a...
The Federal U.S. Gold Stock
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-23 · Resources · 1,647 words · PDF available
Today, gold transactions and other uses are almost entirely a private market function. However, historically, gold was bought and sold by the U.S. government (and many other governments) for a variety...
The U.S. Department of State: Background and Selected Issues for the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-23 · Resources · 1,488 words · PDF available
Background Created by an act of Congress in 1789, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) is the executive branch’s lead foreign affairs agency and oldest cabinet agency. The Secretary of State, appointed...
Ellingburg v. United States: Supreme Court to Hear Ex Post Facto Clause Challenge to Criminal Restitution Statute
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-23 · Posts · 2,759 words · PDF available
On October 14, 2025, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in Ellingburg v. United States, a case presenting the question whether criminal restitution under the Mandatory Victim Restitu...
FY2026 Budget Request for the Military Health System
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-23 · Resources · 1,483 words · PDF available
In June 2025, President Donald J. Trump submitted to Congress his Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget request, which included $848.3 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Defense (DOD), whic...
Finger pointing ramps up over shutdown threat
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-22 · Newsletter Article · 89 words
Congress takes another break before the Oct. 1 funding deadline
How AI Could Play a Role in Making Government Work
Third Way · 2025-09-22 · Report · 1,710 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,...
What's at stake at UNGA 2025?
Brookings Institution · 2025-09-19 · Article · 5,533 words · PDF available
Brookings experts unpack the issues at stake during the 2025 United Nations General Assembly meetings.
Congress ready to go on recess without a CR deal
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-19 · Newsletter Article · 68 words
Trump on TV criticism: "They're not allowed to do that."
Judicial Review and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Reports · 17,082 words · PDF available
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is one of the most frequently litigated federal environmental statutes. NEPA is also one of the most broadly applicable federal environmental statutes, wit...
U.S. Export Controls and China: Advanced Semiconductors
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Reports · 7,551 words · PDF available
Semiconductors are strategic and uniquely important electronic devices. They are fundamental to most industrial and national security activities and serve as essential building blocks of other technol...
Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCMN)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Resources · 1,797 words · PDF available
Congress and the executive branch have debated the merits of a new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) since the weapon was proposed by the first Trump Administration in 2018. The Biden...
DOD Replicator Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Resources · 1,585 words · PDF available
Introduction Replicator, unveiled on August 28, 2023, is a Department of Defense (DOD) initiative, led by DOD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), to field thousands of uncrewed systems by August 2025. (...
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act: The Supreme Court Recognizes Statutory Immunity for Firearm Companies in Case Brought by the Government of Mexico
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Reports · 11,866 words · PDF available
Enacted in 2005, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) generally bars lawsuits in federal or state court against firearm manufacturers, distributors, importers, and dealers when a thir...
Coup-Related Restrictions in U.S. Foreign Aid Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Resources · 1,602 words · PDF available
Political turmoil in Africa and Burma has brought attention to a provision in annual foreign assistance appropriations legislation restricting U.S. aid after a coup d’état. What Is Section 7008? In i...
Presidential Authority to Address Tariff Barriers in Trade Agreements under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-19 · Resources · 1,558 words · PDF available
The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate trade with foreign nations and to lay and collect duties. Since the 1930s, Congress has periodically authorized the President to negotiate t...
House leaders okay extra money for lawmaker security
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-18 · Newsletter Article · 2,268 words
A 'man-bites-dog' kind of day on Capitol Hill
From Chicago to Philly—and Beyond: Scaling Smarter Small Business Certification
Third Way · 2025-09-18 · Report · 1,105 words
This report examines a groundbreaking partnership between transit agencies in Chicago and Philadelphia that shows exactly how to unlock small business contracting opportunities, creating a model that ...
Immigration Parole
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Reports · 12,396 words · PDF available
The parole provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) gives the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) discretionary authority to “parole into the United States temporarily...
Critical Mineral Resources: National Policy and Critical Minerals List
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Reports · 12,349 words · PDF available
According to a 2008 National Research Council report, a critical mineral is a nonfuel mineral that is essential for use and faces considerable supply chain vulnerabilities. For example, silicon is ess...
Mortgage Servicing and Selected Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Reports · 11,374 words · PDF available
A mortgage servicer is an institution that works on behalf of either a lienholder (i.e., an entity that owns the future streams of principal and interest repayments of the loan and absorbs the financi...
The Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act: Summary and Analysis
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Reports · 10,893 words · PDF available
The federal government owns or leases 2.7 billion square feet in nearly 266,000 buildings that serve various purposes, including courthouses, laboratories, warehouses, and office space. Federal regula...
U.S.-EU Tariffs and Trade Framework Agreement
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Resources · 1,941 words · PDF available
In July 2025, the world’s two largest economies—the United States and the 27-member European Union (EU)—announced a bilateral framework agreement to address some tariff and trade issues. The deal is o...
Afro-descendants of Latin America: Selected Resources
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Posts · 1,149 words · PDF available
The United Nations (UN) estimates that approximately “200 million people identifying themselves as being of African descent live in the Americas.” Congress has long demonstrated interest in the status...
Executive Order 14248: Action by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Voting System Testing and Certification Provisions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Posts · 1,084 words · PDF available
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 25, 2025, Executive Order (E.O.) 14248, that addresses federal guidelines, testing, and certification for voting systems, among other topics. ...
The Department of Homeland Security’s Authority to Expand Expedited Removal
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Posts · 3,450 words · PDF available
An alien apprehended by immigration authorities when attempting to unlawfully enter the United States is generally subject to an expedited removal process if an official of the Department of Homeland ...
Pakistan’s New Long-Range Missile Development
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Resources · 1,703 words · PDF available
On December 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced the imposition of sanctions on Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC), which “has worked to acquire items in furtherance of Pakistan...
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Considerations for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-18 · Reports · 6,029 words · PDF available
Special Operations Forces (SOF) play a significant role in U.S. military operations. In 1986, Congress, concerned about the status of SOF within overall U.S. defense planning, passed legislation (P.L....
GOP leaders forced to retreat over tariff votes
Substack Newsletters · 2025-09-17 · Newsletter Article · 88 words
Republicans roll out 7-week temporary funding plan
U.S. Tariffs and the 2025 U.S.-Japan Framework Agreement
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-17 · Posts · 1,024 words · PDF available
After months of talks spurred by U.S. tariff actions, the United States and Japan announced in July 2025 the outlines of a bilateral “strategic trade and investment agreement.” Details of the framewor...
FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC): Recent Developments
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-17 · Posts · 1,017 words · PDF available
On April 4, 2025, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) press release indicated that FEMA would be ending a pre-disaster mitigation grant program known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and ...
The Reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-17 · Testimony · 5,684 words · PDF available
TRIA Terrorism Risk Insurance Terrorism Insurance TRIA reauthorization Terrorism Risk Insurance reauthorization Terrorism Insurance reauthorization
Proposals to Limit Member of Congress Financial Activities: Analysis of Introduced Legislation in the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-17 · Reports · 9,271 words · PDF available
In recent years, some Members of Congress have proposed reforms that would prohibit the purchase, sale, or ownership of certain financial instruments by Members of Congress and other specified congres...
FY2024 Sources of Federal Funding for Tribal Colleges and Universities
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-17 · Infographics · 620 words · PDF available
/ Information as of September 17, 2025. Prepared by Cassandria Dortch, Specialist in Education Policy; Eleni G. Bickell, Analyst in Agricultural Policy; Lisa Benson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy;...