Policy Library

7,020 documents

The Public Housing Program
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-11 · Resources · 1,612 words · PDF available
The low-rent public housing program—authorized by Section 9 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937—is the nation’s oldest federal rental assistance program. It offers low-cost apartments for low-income house...
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Report on Ligado Networks and the Interference Debate
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-11 · Posts · 1,032 words · PDF available
On April 19, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an application by Ligado Networks, a U.S. telecommunications company, to deploy a terrestrial network within the United States u...
Iran and Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-08 · Resources · 1,578 words · PDF available
The October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas (a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization) on Israel and the ensuing conflict have increased U.S. government scrutiny on Iran, a longtime backer of Hamas. ...
Title VI and Peer-to-Peer Racial Harassment at School: Federal Appellate Decisions
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-08 · Posts · 2,369 words · PDF available
Section 601 of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. While that mandate applies broadly to federally ...
Implementation Status of HOTMA Income and Rent Changes
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-08 · Posts · 990 words · PDF available
Between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, the way that incomes and rents are calculated for the roughly 5 million households that participate in federal rental assistance programs will change, as ...
Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Under the Inflation Reduction Act: Industry Responses and Potential Effects
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-08 · Reports · 8,459 words
The 2022 budget reconciliation legislation commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA; P.L. 117-169) established the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (Program). The Program authorizes t...
Montana’s TikTok Ban, an Injunction, and Pending Legal Actions
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-08 · Posts · 1,770 words · PDF available
On November 30, 2023, a U.S. district judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing Montana from enforcing a ban on TikTok’s operations in the state. According to media reporting, while a number of...
Federal investments in sector-based training can boost workers’ upward mobility
Brookings Institution · 2023-12-07 · Article · 219,891 words · PDF available
By some metrics, the U.S. labor market recovery has been the envy of the world, withunemploymentrates at record lows and workers’earningsrising at a substantial clip.
The Privacy Act of 1974: Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-07 · Reports · 17,490 words · PDF available
The Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act; 5 U.S.C. §552a) prescribes how federal agency records with individually identifying information are to be stored, who may access such information, and when the go...
FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act: Overview of Funding Authorizations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-07 · Reports · 19,471 words · PDF available
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is policy legislation typically introduced and reported each year by the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services (also known as the House Armed Serv...
Congressional Control over the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-06 · Reports · 30,799 words · PDF available
The Constitution’s Framers structured the Constitution to promote the separation of powers and protect the federal courts from undue influence by Congress and the executive branch. Among the federal c...
Impeachment and the Constitution
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-06 · Reports · 38,703 words · PDF available
The Constitution grants Congress authority to impeach and remove the President, Vice President, and other federal “civil officers” for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Impeac...
Expired and Expiring National Institutes of Health (NIH) Provisions
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-06 · Posts · 1,147 words · PDF available
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), based in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary federal agency responsible for medical and health research. NIH is made up of 27 Ins...
Commercial Real Estate Markets and Potential Macroeconomic Stress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-06 · Posts · 913 words · PDF available
The commercial real estate (CRE) industry comprises different real estate sectors, including office, industrial, and retail space, as well as multifamily housing (e.g., apartments). Recent economic tr...
Congressional Displacement of the State Secrets Privilege and Article II
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-05 · Posts · 1,489 words · PDF available
Supreme Court cases addressing the state secrets privilege are few and far between. Before the 2021 term, when the applicability of the privilege was at issue in two cases, the Court had addressed it ...
Federal Tax Lien Enforcement
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-05 · Infographics · 831 words · PDF available
/ Information prepared by Justin C. Chung, Legislative Attorney and Jamie L. Hutchinson, Visual Information Specialist. Federal Tax Lien ENFORCEMENT A federal tax lien gives the government rights to a...
India: Climate Change Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-05 · Resources · 1,654 words · PDF available
Global climate change presents multiple challenges to India. The country is faced with meeting its energy and economic development needs, reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and addressing th...
USDA’s Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards Regulations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-05 · Resources · 1,707 words · PDF available
In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized its Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) rulemaking (88 Federal Register 75394). The final rule updates regulations unde...
Clear Statement Rules, Textualism, and the Administrative State
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-04 · Posts · 2,844 words · PDF available
A “clear statement rule” is a judicial presumption that courts should not interpret a statute a certain way unless Congress made a “clear statement” requiring that outcome. In the Supreme Court’s Octo...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (November 27–December 3, 2023)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-04 · Posts · 1,855 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...
Electricity Transmission: What Is the Role of the Federal Government?
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-04 · Reports · 6,038 words · PDF available
Electricity transmission is central to the operation of the electricity system, and so has been of longstanding interest to Congress. Interest in electricity transmission has increased since the enact...
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-01 · Reports · 11,362 words · PDF available
The organization now known as the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has organized U.S. participation in the Olympic Games since the early 20th century and serves a leading role re...
Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan
Congressional Research Service · 2023-12-01 · Resources · 1,541 words · PDF available
U.S. officials have identified Pakistan as a base of operations and/or target for numerous armed, nonstate militant groups, some of which have existed since the 1980s. Notable terrorist and other grou...
Bank Capital Requirements: Basel III Endgame
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-30 · Reports · 10,979 words · PDF available
Setting bank capital requirements is an iterative process. Requirements have repeatedly been tweaked over the decades as problems emerge or policy priorities change. For example, in 2013 U.S. regulato...
Honduras: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-30 · Reports · 12,312 words · PDF available
Honduras, a Central American nation of 9.8 million people, has had close ties with the United States for many years. The country served as a base for U.S. operations designed to counter Soviet influen...
Siting Challenges for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Pipelines
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-30 · Posts · 1,071 words · PDF available
Carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines are an essential part of carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems, promoted by the Biden Administration and some in Congress to reduce emissions of CO2—a greenhouse gas—...
The Federal Tax Gap: Overview, Analysis, and Policy Options
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-30 · Reports · 10,078 words · PDF available
The federal tax gap is a measurement of the amount of federal taxes that taxpayers legally owe but do not pay on time in a given year. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that the average ann...
Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-30 · Reports · 4,567 words · PDF available
In 1978, Congress passed P.L. 95-507, which among other actions, established an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) in each federal agency having procurement powers. The leg...
U.S. Tourism: Economic Impacts and Pandemic Recovery
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-29 · Reports · 9,564 words · PDF available
Tourism and the U.S. tourism industry are issues of long-standing interest to Congress. As a source of millions of jobs and billions of dollars of spending in the United States, tourism—both internati...
Kratom Regulation: Federal Status and State Approaches
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-28 · Posts · 1,829 words · PDF available
Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, is a tree related to the coffee plant and is native to parts of Southeast Asia. Peoples indigenous to the tree’s range have traditionally consumed the leaves of the tree...
Federal Election Commission Administrative Fine Program
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-28 · Posts · 1,083 words · PDF available
Statutory authorization for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Administrative Fine Program (AFP, sometimes called the Administrative Fines Program) expires on December 31, 2023. The AFP provides ex...
House of Representatives Staff Levels, 1977-2023
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-28 · Reports · 3,730 words · PDF available
This report provides staffing levels in House Member, committee, leadership, and other offices since 1977. Between 1977 and 2023, the number of House staff grew from 8,831 to 9,247, or 4.71%. / These ...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (November 20–November 26, 2023)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-27 · Posts · 1,677 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...
OMB Releases 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act Guidance
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-27 · Posts · 961 words · PDF available
On September 22, 2023, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Memorandum M-23-22, which contains guidance for agencies on implementation of the 21st Century Integrated Digital ...
Why did the budget deficit grow so much in FY 2023? And what does this imply about the future debt trajectory?
Brookings Institution · 2023-11-22 · Article · 3,736 words · PDF available
The Hutchins Center explains why the U.S. federal deficit grew in fiscal year 2023, and examines what this means for the future debt level.
The U.S. Census Bureau: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-22 · Reports · 11,487 words · PDF available
The U.S. Census Bureau is a federal statistical agency housed within the Department of Commerce. It is tasked with producing statistics on demographic and economic characteristics across the United St...
Artificial Intelligence in the Biological Sciences: Uses, Safety, Security, and Oversight
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-22 · Reports · 9,390 words · PDF available
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term generally thought of as computerized systems that work and react in ways commonly thought to require intelligence. AI technologies, methodologies, and applicatio...
Financial Disclosure and the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-22 · Posts · 2,388 words · PDF available
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA) established financial disclosure reporting requirements for many high-level government officials and employees, including the Chief Justice of the United St...
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-22 · Reports · 16,354 words · PDF available
The U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program provided nonreciprocal, duty-free tariff treatment to certain products imported to the United States from designated beneficiary developing cou...
Antitrust Reform and Big Tech Firms
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-21 · Reports · 45,352 words · PDF available
Antitrust has become a hot topic. After decades as a mostly technocratic discipline, competition policy now commands the attention of lawmakers, academics, and the general public. One of the driving ...
Nonimmigrant Overstays: Overview and Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-21 · Reports · 21,850 words · PDF available
Nonimmigrants are foreign nationals who are lawfully admitted to the United States for a temporary period and specific purpose (e.g., tourism, study, work). They are required to depart the United Stat...
Federal Law Enforcement Efforts to Counter Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-21 · Resources · 1,476 words · PDF available
Human smuggling and human trafficking crimes continue to be of interest to local, state, and federal policymakers, law enforcement, and others. The federal government responds to both types of crimes ...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (November 13–November 19, 2023)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-20 · Posts · 1,457 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...
Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Current Legal Framework
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-20 · Posts · 2,475 words · PDF available
Several bills introduced in the 118th Congress address the rising cost of prescription drugs for American consumers. Some of these proposals concern the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which...
42 U.S.C. § 1981’s Contract Clause: Racial Equality in Contractual Relationships
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-20 · Resources · 1,748 words · PDF available
Among federal statutes that address racial discrimination, 42 U.S.C. § 1981’s contract clause uniquely focuses on guaranteeing a person’s equal right to make and enforce contracts without regard to ra...
The Economic Implications of Moore v. United States
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-20 · Resources · 1,810 words · PDF available
Moore v. United States (henceforth referred to as Moore) is a legal case that challenges the constitutionality of the “transition tax” imposed with the change in the international tax system that was ...
Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-20 · Reports · 15,227 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...
Hydrogen Hubs and Demonstrating the Hydrogen Energy Value Chain
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-17 · Reports · 7,468 words · PDF available
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced seven finalists for $7 billion in grants for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs in October 2023—a program authorized by Congress in the Infrastructure Investmen...
The Supreme Court Adopts a Code of Conduct
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-17 · Posts · 2,093 words · PDF available
On November 13, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court announced the adoption of the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (Justices’ Code of Conduct). The Justices’ Code of Con...
Parliamentary Reference Sources: Senate
Congressional Research Service · 2023-11-17 · Reports · 9,335 words · PDF available
The Senate’s procedures are determined not only by its standing rules but also by standing orders, published precedents, committee rules, party conference rules, and informal practices. The Constituti...