Policy Library

6,587 documents

Social Security: Selected Findings of the 2024 Annual Report
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-10 · Resources · 1,692 words · PDF available
According to the 2024 report of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds, the program’s finances are in a similar, albeit marginally better, position in 2024 relative to what they were...
Technology Service Providers and Credit Unions
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-10 · Resources · 1,384 words · PDF available
This In Focus summarizes issues regarding the cybersecurity risks posed by third-party vendors that provide credit unions with technology services. It begins with background on the reliance on technol...
Meeting Europe’s Natural Gas Demand
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-10 · Infographics · 414 words · PDF available
/ Meeting Europe’s Natural Gas Demand With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent halting of most pipeline natural gas deliveries to European countries, Europe’s vulnerability to supply ...
Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Reductions
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-10 · Resources · 1,461 words · PDF available
The Medicaid statute requires states to make disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments to hospitals treating large numbers of low-income patients. This provision is intended to recognize the disa...
Regulation of TikTok Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act: Analysis of Selected Legal Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-09 · Posts · 3,432 words · PDF available
In April 2024, Congress enacted the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA) as part of a supplemental appropriations act (P.L. 118-50). The PAFACAA makes it u...
Delegates and the Resident Commissioner: Parliamentary Rights and Practice, 113th-117th Congresses
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-09 · Reports · 4,247 words · PDF available
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia are each represented in Congress by a delegate to the House of Representatives, while Puerto Rico i...
Postal Primer: Post Office Naming
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-08 · Resources · 1,582 words · PDF available
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has independent authority to name or designate its postal facilities. Additionally, Congress may designate a post office through legislation. This In Focus describes the...
Trends and Proposals for Corporate Tax Revenue
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-08 · Resources · 1,495 words · PDF available
U.S. corporate tax revenues have declined, relative to the size of the economy, since the mid-1960s. Corporate tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) fell from 3.9% in 1966 to app...
Pakistan: Human Rights Assessments
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-08 · Resources · 1,682 words
Overview The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic. As reported by the State Department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (also known as Human Rights Reports ...
Federal Reserve’s Discount Window: Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-08 · Resources · 1,927 words · PDF available
The failure of three large banks in the spring of 2023 put the discount window (DW) of the Federal Reserve (Fed) back in the spotlight. DW lending suddenly spiked, reaching an all-time high of $295.7 ...
The Unemployment Trust Fund: FY2024 Income, Outlays, and End-of-Year Balances
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-08 · Reports · 5,885 words · PDF available
The joint federal-state Unemployment Insurance system provides temporary and partial wage replacement to involuntarily unemployed workers and stabilizes the economy during recessions. Two permanent-la...
IRS Direct File Program: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Resources · 1,808 words · PDF available
The assessment and collection of federal taxes owed depend on the level of taxpayer compliance with tax laws and regulations. Two factors shaping this compliance are the cost and ease of preparing and...
Building the Fleet: Assessing the Department of Homeland Security’s Role in the United States Coast Guard’s Acquisitions Process
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Testimony · 5,545 words · PDF available
homeland security, Coast Guard, shipbuilding, acquisition, procurement, Polar Security Cutter, PSC, Offshore Patrol Cutter, OPC, multiyear, block buy
The Post-9/11 GI Bill: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Reports · 15,277 words · PDF available
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers several educational assistance programs, most notably the GI Bills, that provide funds to or on behalf of veterans and servicemembers and their fami...
The 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334): Summary and Side-by-Side Comparison
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Reports · 125,995 words · PDF available
Congress sets national food and agriculture policy through periodic omnibus farm bills that address a broad range of farm and food programs and policies. The 115th Congress established the direction o...
Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Reports · 4,073 words · PDF available
Key Bridge, Baltimore, port, harbor, ship, tug, NTSB, Coast Guard, salvage, Army Corps of Engineers, USACE, FHWA, highway, emergency relief.
Defense Primer: Procurement
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Resources · 1,080 words · PDF available
Overview While procurement implies a process of obtaining goods or services, the word also refers to a specific title and to associated accounts within the annual National Defense Authorization Act (N...
Search and Rescue (SAR) Operations on Federal Lands
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-07 · Resources · 1,663 words · PDF available
Each year, thousands of visitors to federal lands require the assistance of search and rescue (SAR) services. SAR operations take place in a wide range of environments and conditions and can include b...
Older Americans Act: Summary in Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-06 · Resources · 1,512 words
Overview The Older Americans Act (OAA; P.L. 89-73, as amended; 42 U.S.C. Ch. 35) supports a wide range of social and health-related services and programs for older adults, including supportive service...
U.S. International Climate Finance: FY2025
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-06 · Resources · 1,287 words · PDF available
U.S. International Climate Finance Over the past several decades, to substantially varying degrees, the United States has delivered financial and technical assistance for climate change initiatives in...
The Scope of ACA Section 1557: “Health Program or Activity”
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-06 · Posts · 3,387 words · PDF available
On May 6, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or the Department) finalized a new rule under Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Section 1557 appli...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (April 29–May 5, 2024)
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-06 · Posts · 2,365 words · PDF available
The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from the past week that may be of particular interest to fede...
Older Americans Act: Overview and Funding
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-06 · Reports · 9,366 words · PDF available
The Older Americans Act (OAA; P.L. 89-73, as amended) is the primary federal statute for the delivery of social and nutrition services for older persons. The act authorizes a wide array of health and ...
North Korea-Russia Relations: Current Developments
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-06 · Posts · 1,019 words · PDF available
Since 2023, North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK) and the Russian Federation (Russia) have upgraded their partnership, a development that could potential...
The Federal Trade Commission’s NonCompete Rule
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-03 · Posts · 3,217 words · PDF available
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted a final rule prohibiting most employers from entering into or enforcing non-compete agreements with workers, subject to exceptions for the...
Drug Offense Sentencing Relief Under the First Step Act and the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-03 · Resources · 1,478 words · PDF available
Congress may establish maximum penalties and mandatory minimum penalties for federal crimes. These statutory penalties form the outer bounds of permissible federal criminal sentences. Within these sta...
Comparing DHS Component Funding, FY2024: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-03 · Reports · 3,480 words · PDF available
Generally, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill includes all annual appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), providing resources to every departmental component...
The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017: Congressional Direction to NOAA in P.L. 115-25
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-03 · Reports · 4,786 words · PDF available
Congress provides direction on a broad range of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) weather-related activities in Titles I through IV of P.L. 115-25, the Weather Research an...
FY2024 NDAA Funding Authorizations and Legislative Activity: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-02 · Reports · 6,094 words · PDF available
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is authorization legislation typically introduced and reported each year by the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services (also known as the House Arm...
No Surprises Act Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Process Data Analysis for the First Half of 2023
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-02 · Reports · 6,639 words · PDF available
The No Surprises Act (NSA), part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), established various consumer protections related to surprise billing—that is, circumstances in which indiv...
The Federal Status of Marijuana and the Policy Gap with States
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-02 · Resources · 1,672 words · PDF available
Marijuana is a psychoactive drug that generally consists of leaves and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant. Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act ...
Identifying Areas of Economic Distress: Examples and Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-02 · Reports · 15,994 words · PDF available
For decades, Congress has used place-based policies to address regional socioeconomic disparities. Many recent federal economic development policies—including rural development policies—have focused o...
Criminal Justice Data: Organized Retail Crime
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-02 · Reports · 4,445 words · PDF available
Retailers and retail industry advocacy groups have expressed concern about what they see as a general increase in retail crime, and more specifically an increase in organized retail crime (ORC). Repor...
Career Programs for Veterans, Gold Star Families, and Active-Duty Spouses in the House and Senate
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-02 · Resources · 1,303 words · PDF available
House Green & Gold Congressional Aide Program Origin In 2008, the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Committee on House Administration established a House aide program designed to prov...
Repatriation of Native American Remains and Cultural Items: Requirements for Agencies and Institutions
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Resources · 1,664 words · PDF available
Some federal agencies, museums, and other institutions have, over time, acquired human remains and cultural items related to the Indigenous peoples who originally inhabited the United States. Congress...
Department of Veterans Affairs FY2024 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Reports · 24,532 words · PDF available
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers numerous programs that provide benefits and services to eligible veterans and their families. These benefits include medical care, disability compen...
Revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Posts · 1,020 words
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees the collection of race and ethnicity data through Statistical Policy Directive (SPD) No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Fe...
USMCA: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Resources · 1,729 words · PDF available
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) that entered into force among the three countries in 2020. It updated and replaced the 1994 North Americ...
Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oil’s Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Testimony · 1,036 words · PDF available
Energy Climate Natural Gas LNG Exports Geopolitics Trade
Legal Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Posts · 1,762 words · PDF available
On April 30, 2024, news outlets reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) planned to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The planned...
Discretionary Spending: Setting a Topline Amount for FY2025 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2024-05-01 · Posts · 1,053 words · PDF available
Each year, Congress produces appropriations legislation that provides discretionary funding for a broad range of government activities. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have jurisdiction...
State of the U.S. Economy: Policy Issues in the 118th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-30 · Reports · 12,247 words · PDF available
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused the most severe shock to the U.S. economy since the Great Depression, with a 28% annualized quarterly decline in output and a 14.7% unemployment rate. The U.S...
Parliamentary Reference Sources: House of Representatives
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-30 · Reports · 10,010 words · PDF available
House procedures are based not only on the rules the chamber adopts at the start of each Congress but also on constitutional mandates, published precedents, rulemaking statutes, procedural principles ...
Risks to the 2024 Economic Outlook
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-30 · Resources · 1,737 words · PDF available
The economy in 2023 was characterized by high but falling inflation, a tight labor market, and moderate to high growth. Many economists predicted that monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve...
American Battlefield Protection Program
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-30 · Resources · 1,422 words · PDF available
The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP; 54 U.S.C. §§308101-308105) is a grant program administered by the National Park Service (NPS) aimed at promoting the preservation of sites where “his...
Senate Committee-Passed FAA Bill Revived Debate over Reagan National Airport Slot and Perimeter Rules
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-29 · Posts · 993 words · PDF available
On February 29, 2024, seven months after the House of Representatives passed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization legislation H.R. 3935, the Senate version of the bill (S. 1939) was r...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (April 22–April 28, 2024)
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-29 · Posts · 1,725 words · PDF available
The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from the past week that may be of particular interest to fede...
Federal Data Management: Issues and Challenges in the Use of Data Standards
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-29 · Reports · 17,518 words · PDF available
The federal government manages a significant amount of data. Congress expects federal agencies to be effective managers and stewards of the data with which they are entrusted. Sometimes, Congress cont...
Internal Revenue Service Appropriations, FY2025
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-29 · Resources · 1,607 words · PDF available
Overview of the IRS Budget The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is responsible for (1) collecting most of the revenue to fund federal government agencies and programs, and (2) enforcing taxpayer compli...
The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) Program
Congressional Research Service · 2024-04-29 · Resources · 1,628 words · PDF available
Emissions from diesel engines—especially particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides, and air toxics—have been shown to contribute to air pollution that adversely impacts public heal...