Policy Library

7,020 documents

Immigration enforcement and US schools: What could happen and what education leaders can do
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-13 · Article · 1,533 words · PDF available
Trump's actions could reshape immigration and education, affecting millions of students and thousands of schools.
What is reconciliation in Congress?
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-13 · Article · 1,430 words · PDF available
[author-bio] With the Senate evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, 50 each, giving Vice President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote, there is a lot of attention to a legislative process ...
Reversing the Long March Through the Institutions
Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-13 · Commentary · 1,568 words
COMMENTARY BYMike Gonzalez@GundisalvusAngeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior FellowMike is the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.Sometimes, ostensibly...
When Judges Act Like Politicians, They Deserve To Be Criticized
Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-13 · Commentary · 1,038 words
COMMENTARY BYZack Smith@tzsmithSenior Legal Fellow, Meese Center for Legal StudiesZack is a Senior Legal Fellow and Manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program in Heritage’s Meese Cen...
Compilation of Federal Whistleblower Protection Statutes
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Reports · 46,644 words · PDF available
This report provides information regarding federal whistleblower and employee protection statutes and their text.
Biden Administration Withdraws Offshore Areas from Oil and Gas Leasing: Can a Withdrawal Be Withdrawn?
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Posts · 1,227 words · PDF available
On January 6, 2025, President Joe Biden issued two presidential memoranda directing the withdrawal of areas in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the northern Bering Se...
Wildlife Corridors: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Reports · 16,169 words · PDF available
Species need connectivity between habitats to seek out sources for food and shelter and, in some cases, to adapt to environmental stressors and climate change. One method of increasing ecological conn...
The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) in FY2025: Current Status
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Posts · 975 words · PDF available
FY2025 Spending Limits The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA, P.L. 118-5), enacted in June 2023, established statutory discretionary spending limits for FY2024 and FY2025 for both defense (security) and ...
U.S. Direct Financial Support for Ukraine
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Resources · 1,647 words · PDF available
Background Congress has enacted five emergency supplemental funding measures to address Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. These include the Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 (FY2022 US...
Atmospheric Rivers: Background and Forecasting
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Resources · 1,176 words
An atmospheric river (AR) consists of a long band of water vapor moving through the atmosphere, typically resulting in heavy precipitation over land (Figure 1). Improved AR observations and understand...
The National Institutes of Health (NIH): Background and Congressional Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Reports · 36,148 words · PDF available
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the leading federal agency for biomedical and health research. In FY2024, NIH used its over $47 bil...
Port Automation and Payroll Fraud
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Posts · 1,017 words · PDF available
East and Gulf Coast port workers were set to go on strike again on January 15, 2025, had an agreement not been reached with their employers over automated cargo handling equipment. The January 9, 2025...
House Sergeant at Arms: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Resources · 1,513 words · PDF available
The Sergeant at Arms (SAA) is an elected officer of the House of Representatives and is the chamber’s primary law enforcement official and protocol officer, responsible for maintaining security on the...
Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Resources · 1,366 words · PDF available
The Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper (Sergeant at Arms) is an elected officer of the Senate and is the chamber’s primary law enforcement and protocol official, responsible for the protection, security,...
The Middle East: Selected Issues for the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Resources · 1,711 words · PDF available
Developments in the Middle East during 2023 and 2024 transformed the security landscape of the region with profound and still unfolding implications for the United States. Changes in the relative capa...
Housing Issues in the 118th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Reports · 29,693 words · PDF available
Housing affordability is a perennial policy issue, but it has become particularly salient in recent years in light of notable increases in house prices and rents, rising mortgage interest rates, and h...
Foreign Relations Reauthorization: Background and Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-13 · Resources · 1,462 words · PDF available
Introduction The Constitution gives Congress the power to provide funding, authorize programs, and conduct oversight with respect to the implementation of foreign policy. In exercising these powers, C...
The country needs to build homes and community like Jimmy Carter
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-10 · Article · 1,163 words
The only thing that suggests our nation doesn’t have a housing crisis is the alarming length of time we’ve allowed it to persist without meaningful action. Since the housing crisis of 2007–2008, we se...
Trump’s Targeted Tariff Proposals Are Already a Notable Success
Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-10 · Commentary · 939 words
COMMENTARY BYAndrew HaleJay Van Andel Senior Policy Analyst in Trade PolicyAndrew is the Jay Van Andel Senior Policy Analyst in Trade Policy in Heritage’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy ...
Tariffs and Federal Finances: A Thumbnail History
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Posts · 1,258 words · PDF available
Tariffs and other customs charges were the largest source of federal revenues in the 18th and 19th centuries. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. This Insight offers a brief history of U.S. tariff po...
Farm Bill Primer: Hemp Industry Support and Regulation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Resources · 1,766 words · PDF available
Hemp is a variety or cultivar of Cannabis sativa—the same plant as marijuana—grown to produce nonpsychoactive food, beverage, consumer, and industrial products. The 2018 farm bill (Agriculture Improve...
FDA Oversight of Food Safety and Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Resources · 1,662 words · PDF available
Background The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that foodborne pathogens account for 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths per year. In 2024, the Fo...
FY2025 NDAA: TRICARE Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Posts · 1,233 words · PDF available
Background The Department of Defense (DOD) administers a statutory health entitlement (under Title 10, Chapter 55, of the U.S. Code), through the Military Health System (MHS). The MHS offers health ca...
Members’ Representational Allowance: History and Usage
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Reports · 13,055 words · PDF available
Members of the House of Representatives have one consolidated allowance, the Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA), with which to operate their offices. The first full year of the MRA was the seco...
Canada: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Reports · 33,608 words · PDF available
The United States and Canada are close partners, bound together by a 5,525-mile border as well as by shared history and values. The countries maintain long-standing mutual security commitments under N...
Department of Defense-Minority Business Development Agency November 2024 Memorandum of Understanding
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Posts · 1,015 words · PDF available
On November 19, 2024, the Department of Defense (DOD’s) Office of the Under Secretary for Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency ...
Tribal Self-Determination Authorities: Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Reports · 21,797 words · PDF available
Congress has broad authority over issues relating to federally recognized Tribes (hereinafter, Tribes), and its approach to tribal issues has fluctuated over time. Beginning in the 1970s, Congress est...
Turkey (Türkiye), the PKK, and U.S. Involvement: Chronology
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Resources · 1,556 words · PDF available
Turkey’s (alt. Türkiye) decades-long struggle with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Kurdish acronym PKK) has fostered both cooperation and contention between the United States and Turkey. The PKK, a U.S....
Exchange Rates and Currency Manipulation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Resources · 1,599 words · PDF available
At various points over the past two decades, some Members of Congress have expressed concerns that other countries are engaging in currency manipulation—that is, purposefully using exchange rate polic...
Defense Primer: Intelligence Support to Military Operations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-10 · Resources · 1,301 words · PDF available
The statutory responsibility for resourcing and coordinating the activities of the Intelligence Community (IC) in support of military activities belongs to two senior officials: The Director of Natio...
How precise are the estimates of Traditional Medicare costs used to set Medicare Advantage benchmarks?
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-09 · Article · 7,940 words · PDF available
The authors explore whether a shift in enrollment from Traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage could affect CMS' estimates of costs.
Low-income workers experience the most earnings and work hours instability
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-09 · Article · 4,453 words · PDF available
Instability is a defining characteristic of low-income workers’ earnings and work hours.
Getting to equitable development
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-09 · Article · 6,020 words · PDF available
Local land use policies and decisionmaking approaches have long been contentious and high stakes. Though its contours vary from state to state, regulating land use is one of the most significant power...
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-09 · Commentary · 68 words
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-09 · Commentary · 68 words
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-09 · Commentary · 68 words
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The legacy of President Jimmy Carter
Brookings Institution · 2025-01-08 · Article · 3,715 words · PDF available
As President Jimmy Carter is laid to rest, Brookings scholars reflect on the legacy of his presidency for American foreign policy.
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-08 · Commentary · 68 words
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Equal Rights Amendment Advocates Should Take “Dead” for an Answer
Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-08 · Commentary · 1,099 words
COMMENTARY BYThomas Jipping@TomJippingSenior Legal Fellow, Center for Legal and Judicial StudiesThomas Jipping is a Senior Legal Fellow for the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.U...
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-01-08 · Commentary · 68 words
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U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Resources · 1,669 words · PDF available
On March 28, 2023, the United States and Japan signed a critical minerals agreement (CMA) covering five key minerals related to the production of batteries for clean vehicles (commonly referred to as ...
The Defense Innovation Ecosystem
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Resources · 1,633 words · PDF available
A wide range of authorities, programs, and organizations across the U.S. government support and manage technological aspects of national defense. In particular, such efforts seek to preserve or expand...
Size of the U.S. House of Representatives
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Posts · 992 words · PDF available
The size of the U.S. House of Representatives is set by federal statute at 435 Representatives (excluding nonvoting seats held by Delegates and the Resident Commissioner). This number has been constan...
FY2025 NDAA: Status of Legislative Activity
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Posts · 1,134 words · PDF available
On December 23, 2024, President Joe Biden signed into law the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025 NDAA; P.L. 118-159). This pr...
Cybersecurity: Selected Cyberattacks, 20122024
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Reports · 7,860 words · PDF available
Many Members of Congress have raised concerns over the frequency, types, and impacts of cyber incidents during hearings, speeches, and in legislation. Cyber incidents affect nearly every national enti...
Intercity Passenger Rail: Federal Policy and Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Reports · 9,091 words · PDF available
The federal government has been involved in preserving and improving passenger rail service since 1970, when the bankruptcies of several major railroads prompted Congress to create Amtrak—officially, ...
Cybersecurity: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Resources · 1,613 words · PDF available
Introduction The information technology that Americans use to chat with loved ones and make purchases are the same that can be turned against them to deny access to services, steal their information, ...
Federal Disaster Assistance for Agriculture
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Resources · 1,157 words
Several federal assistance programs are designed to address agricultural losses following a natural disaster through mechanisms including insurance, direct payments for loss, loans, and cost share to ...
Global Food Security: Selected Multilateral Efforts
Congressional Research Service · 2025-01-08 · Resources · 1,753 words · PDF available
Congress may consider the role of multilateral institutions and initiatives in addressing record levels of global food insecurity. The United States, the largest government donor of international food...