Policy Library

6,587 documents

Recurring Constitutional Issues in Federal Legislation
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-20 · Resources · 1,731 words · PDF available
The Constitution both empowers and limits Congress in its lawmaking function. Each piece of federal legislation potentially raises two questions: (1) has Congress acted within the bounds of its enumer...
Penny: History and Current Status
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-20 · Resources · 1,227 words · PDF available
The Secretary of the Treasury, through the U.S. Mint, is statutorily authorized to issue specific denominations of circulating coins (31 U.S.C. §5112). Currently, the United States has six circulating...
Unemployment Insurance and “Millionaires”: Recent Data and Policy Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-19 · Resources · 1,551 words · PDF available
Under the federal-state Unemployment Insurance (UI) system, unemployed workers—including high-income workers—who meet program requirements are eligible to receive UI benefits. States, which determine ...
The U.N. Climate Conference 2022 (COP27): Outcomes
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-19 · Resources · 1,714 words · PDF available
The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met November 6-20, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Over the course of two weeks, Parti...
Student Loan Cancellation Reaches the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-16 · Posts · 2,874 words · PDF available
Nearly all litigants who successfully petition the Supreme Court to hear their claims do so after losing appeals in another court, such as in a state supreme court or a federal circuit court of appeal...
Content and Consideration of the Budget Resolution: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-15 · Reports · 3,891 words · PDF available
The concurrent resolution on the budget was established in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Budget Act) to provide Congress with a means for adopting a fiscal framework for the federal government...
Energy Transition: Affordability, Emissions, and Security
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-15 · Resources · 1,455 words · PDF available
Overview The United States is undergoing a transition in the energy sector, with a shift in energy supplies and production over relatively short periods of time. Over the last 20 years, natural gas ha...
Budget Process Reform: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-15 · Reports · 2,707 words · PDF available
Many Members of Congress have expressed frustration with the budget process or with budgetary outcomes. No consensus has emerged, however, regarding specific problems to be addressed by possible refor...
eDNA/eRNA: Scientific Value in What’s Left Behind
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-15 · Resources · 1,462 words · PDF available
Environmental deoxyribonucleic acid (eDNA) and environmental ribonucleic acid (eRNA) are trace amounts of genetic material collected from an environmental sample, such as from soil, terrestrial and aq...
Recent Cryptocurrency Developments: Energy and Environmental Implications
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-15 · Resources · 1,582 words
Cryptocurrency mining (“cryptomining”) is the process of creating additional units of cryptocurrency—a type of digital asset—and validating cryptocurrency transactions on a blockchain ledger. Accordin...
USDA’s ReConnect Program: Expanding Rural Broadband
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 9,786 words · PDF available
In 2018, Congress provided the Secretary of Agriculture authority to establish a new broadband loan and grant pilot program (the ReConnect Program) to help close the digital divide and expand broadban...
How Measures Are Brought to the House Floor: A Brief Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 2,623 words · PDF available
This report presents a brief description of the five parliamentary methods that may be used to bring proposed legislation to the House floor for consideration. These methods allow for consideration as...
Reporting on Agency Budget Execution: Processes and Case Study Illustration
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 16,939 words
Budget execution refers to agency action to allocate, re-allocate, obligate, and expend budget authority after it is provided in appropriations acts. Numerous provisions in law require agencies to rep...
Ensuring Electricity Infrastructure Resilience Against Deliberate Electromagnetic Threats
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 13,350 words · PDF available
Detonation of a nuclear weapon in the Earth’s upper atmosphere or near-Earth space may generate a series of electromagnetic pulses—known as high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP)—that damage criti...
FEMA’s Community Disaster Loan Program: History, Data, and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 10,221 words · PDF available
Following a disaster, as businesses may close, properties may be abandoned, and tourism may decline, and local governments may lose revenue needed to support key activities such as trash collection, p...
Membership of the 117th Congress: A Profile
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 5,536 words · PDF available
This report presents a profile of the membership of the 117th Congress (2021-2022) as of December 13, 2022, or at the beginning of the 117th Congress (January 3, 2021), where noted. Statistical inform...
The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 7,690 words · PDF available
The daily order of business on the floor of the House of Representatives is governed by standing rules that make certain matters and actions privileged for consideration. On a day-to-day basis, howeve...
Voting Rights Act: Brief Policy Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Resources · 1,613 words · PDF available
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) protects equal access to elections for all eligible Americans. In particular, in response to widespread disenfranchisement between the post-Civil War period and the 1960s, ...
Ownership of the U.S. Rental Housing Stock by Investor Type: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-13 · Reports · 2,080 words · PDF available
SUPRESS On November 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) released data from the 2021 Rental Housing Finance Survey (RHFS), a trien...
Social Security: Potential Impacts of Changes in Computation Years
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-12 · Reports · 11,323 words · PDF available
Social Security is a social insurance program that protects insured workers and their family members against loss of income due to old age (i.e., retirement), disability, or death. The amount of month...
Violent Crime Trends, 1990-2021
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-12 · Resources · 1,595 words · PDF available
Since the 1930s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program has collected data on reported crimes from federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agenci...
Christian Holidays: Fact Sheet
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-12 · Reports · 1,272 words · PDF available
Christianity is one of the three major Abrahamic faiths, alongside Islam and Judaism. The Pew Research Center estimates that 63% of Americans self-identify as Christian. There are a large number of Ch...
The Biden Administration’s Immigration Enforcement Priorities: Background and Legal Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-09 · Posts · 3,364 words · PDF available
Almost immediately after taking office, President Biden issued a series of directives on immigration matters. Some of these directives focused on altering the immigration enforcement priorities of the...
Federal Agency Rule Expands Asylum Officers’ Authority
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-09 · Resources · 1,902 words · PDF available
Under a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) interim final rule (IFR) issued in March 2022, asylum officers (AOs) within DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service...
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-09 · Resources · 1,240 words · PDF available
The Great Lakes ecosystem, the largest system of fresh surface water in the world, is an international resource altered by human activities and climate variability. Some alterations have degraded wate...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Budget: Fact Sheet
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-09 · Reports · 5,333 words · PDF available
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the safety of foods (including dietary supplements), cosmetics, and radiation-emitting products; the safety and effectiveness of drugs, biologics (e.g....
Expedited Naturalization through Military Service
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-08 · Infographics · 635 words · PDF available
/ Expedited Naturalization through Military Service Naturalization is the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. Typically, under immigration law, an individual may apply to naturalize after five years ...
Mauna Loa Eruption
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-08 · Posts · 1,346 words · PDF available
Mauna Loa, a volcano on the island of Hawaii, began erupting on November 27, 2022, with an outbreak of lava at the Mokoaweoweo summit caldera at an elevation of 13,681 feet within the Hawaii Volcanoes...
Debt and Deficits: Spending, Revenue, and Economic Growth
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-08 · Resources · 1,519 words · PDF available
The Constitution provides Congress with the authority to manage the federal budget through its “power of the purse.” This In Focus summarizes federal budget and borrowing trends and discusses related ...
Constitutional Limits to Congress’s Statutory Damages Authority: Takeaways from the Ninth Circuit in Wakefield v. ViSalus
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-08 · Posts · 1,245 words · PDF available
A central question any time Congress exercises its legislative power is what consequences may follow from violating the law. For laws that create private rights of action—in other words, a law that pe...
Suspension of the Rules: House Practice in the 116th Congress (2019-2020)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-07 · Reports · 6,075 words · PDF available
Suspension of the rules is the most commonly used procedure to call up measures on the floor of the House of Representatives. As the name suggests, the procedure allows the House to suspend its standi...
China and the World: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-07 · Resources · 1,725 words · PDF available
The Biden Administration has described the United States as engaged in “a strategic competition to shape the future of the international order,” with the United States’ main competitor being the Peopl...
Ammonia’s Potential Role in a Low-Carbon Economy
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-07 · Resources · 1,227 words · PDF available
Ammonia, composed of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH3), is the second-most produced chemical in the world by mass, according to a 2022 publication from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Mos...
Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-06 · Reports · 17,085 words · PDF available
Venezuela remains in a deep economic and humanitarian crisis under the authoritarian rule of Nicolás Maduro, who has consolidated power since his reelection in a 2018 presidential vote widely deemed f...
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 and Older
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-06 · Reports · 11,129 words · PDF available
Among the aged population (persons aged 65 and older) in the United States, the poverty rate (the percentage of individuals living in poverty, or economic hardship characterized by low income) has dec...
Recent Developments in Marijuana Law
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-06 · Posts · 3,023 words · PDF available
Marijuana and other products derived from the cannabis plant are regulated under both federal and state law. In recent years, a significant divide has developed between federal and state regulation. U...
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act: Data Integration and Individual Rights
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-06 · Reports · 21,615 words · PDF available
Computers and information technologies have increased the amount of data that can be collected, stored, and processed. Computers make it easier to exchange, share, and match data on individuals across...
Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Areas: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-05 · Reports · 6,083 words · PDF available
Congress enacted the Wilderness Act (P.L. 88-577, 16 U.S.C. §§1131 et seq.) in 1964, creating the National Wilderness Preservation System and reserving to Congress the authority to designate wildernes...
Student Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-05 · Resources · 1,787 words · PDF available
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, elementary and secondary schools across the nation closed their doors and pivoted to alternative methods of providing instruction and other services, such as scho...
Administration of the House of Representatives: Actions Taken During a New Congress and Following a Majority Change
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-05 · Resources · 1,609 words · PDF available
As seen in Table 1, majority party control in the House of Representatives has switched 11 times since 1910, most recently in 2019 (beginning of the 116th Congress). The results of the November 2022 e...
If You Do the Space Crime, You May Do the Space Time
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-02 · Posts · 1,963 words · PDF available
In recent years, a number of high-profile commercial space flights—some of which included celebrity passengers—garnered widespread media attention. Moving forward, one company aims to provide hundreds...
Supreme Court Ponders Bankruptcy Code’s Good-Faith Purchaser Exception
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-02 · Posts · 1,956 words · PDF available
In MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC (MOAC), the Supreme Court will determine whether Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code limits appellate courts’ jurisdiction to reverse a sale to an e...
Equity in Innovation: Trends in U.S. Patenting and Inventor Diversity
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-30 · Resources · 1,425 words · PDF available
Scholars, policymakers, and administrators have expressed interest in who participates in America’s innovation ecosystem—the constellation of people, institutions, and enterprises engaged in research ...
The Opioid Crisis in the United States: A Brief History
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-30 · Resources · 1,485 words · PDF available
Opioids act on receptors in the brain that are important in regulating pain and emotion. For centuries, opioids have been used as medicines to manage or treat pain. Natural opioids (sometimes referred...
Unauthorized Immigrants’ Eligibility for Federal and State Benefits: Overview and Resources
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-29 · Reports · 4,236 words · PDF available
This report provides an overview of unauthorized immigrants’ (sometimes referred to as undocumented immigrants or illegal aliens) eligibility for federal and state public benefits. Title IV of the Per...
Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community: Selected Definitions
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-29 · Reports · 7,221 words · PDF available
Congress has defined in statute several definitions of covert action and clandestine activities carried out by the Intelligence Community (IC); other definitions appear only in committee reports and s...
Ukrainian Eligibility for Selected Benefits Based on Immigration Status: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-29 · Reports · 2,563 words · PDF available
This short report outlines eligibility for selected benefits based on certain immigration statuses that are available or could possibly become available for Ukrainians, including refugee, asylee, paro...
Federal Hiring of Persons with Disabilities
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-28 · Reports · 9,409 words · PDF available
Congress and various presidential Administrations have recognized a need to increase and improve federal agencies’ efforts to recruit, hire, and retain persons with disabilities. Impacting the ability...
Natural Gas Markets Going Global: Changes in Consumption
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-23 · Reports · 13,803 words · PDF available
The future of natural gas as a fuel for the global economy depends on many factors, including supply, consumption, prices, transportation, and policies. In 2020, natural gas made up approximately 25% ...
Small Water Systems: Selected Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Provisions
Congressional Research Service · 2022-11-22 · Reports · 9,219 words · PDF available
The nation’s public water systems face a range of challenges, including disruptions of safe and reliable water supplies due to cyberattacks or natural hazards, detections of unregulated contaminants i...