Agricultural Research: Background and Issues
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area funds billions of dollars annually for biological, physical, and social science research that is related...
Expiration of the Discretionary Spending Limits: Frequently Asked Questions
In 2011, during a period in which many Members of Congress expressed concern over rising budget deficits, the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25) established legal limits on the amount of di...
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (P.L. 117159): Section-by-Section Summary
On June 25, 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA, P.L. 117-159) was signed into law. The BSCA was enacted in the aftermath of mass shootings in Uvalde, TX, and Buffalo, NY. The law include...
The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act: Background and Implementation
In 2016, Congress took action to address long-standing obstacles to the timely disposal of unneeded federal buildings, land, and structures. The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (FASTA; P....
Congressional Redistricting: Key Legal and Policy Issues
Following each decennial census, the 435 seats in the House are apportioned—or divided up—among the 50 states (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 2, cl. 1; 2 U.S.C. § 2a(a)). Accordingly, to comport with the c...
Social Security: The Trust Funds and Interest Income
Background
The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, or Social Security, is a self-financing social insurance program that protects workers and their families against loss of i...
The Federal Contested Election Act: Overview and Recent Contests in the House of Representatives
The Federal Contested Election Act (FCEA; 2 U.S.C. §§381-396), enacted in 1969, rests at the intersection of federal election law and policy, legislative procedure, and constitutional provisions regar...
U.S. Aluminum Manufacturing: Industry Trends and Sustainability
Aluminum—a lightweight, ductile, malleable, and corrosion-resistant metal—is a major component used in a wide range of consumer, industrial, and technological goods, including aircraft, building mater...
Potential Enforcement of State Abortion Laws on Federal Property
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a number of state laws now regulate pre-viability abortions. At the same time, several federal agencies, i...
The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework: Background, Implementation, and Next Steps
On October 7, 2022, President Biden signed and issued the Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities (the Data Protection EO or the EO). The Data Protect...
The Americans with Disabilities Act in Cyberspace: ADA Applicability to Websites
In 1990, passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) required businesses nationwide to accommodate people with disabilities. Under the statute’s terms, for example, a “motion picture house” o...