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Category Archives: Congress

Preliminary Report: The Climate and Energy Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Suggested citation: Jenkins, J.D., Mayfield, E.N., Farbes, J., Jones, R., Patankar, N., Xu, Q., Schivley, G., “Preliminary Report: The Climate and Energy Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” REPEAT Project, Princeton, NJ, August 2022 “This report describes the national-scale energy system and greenhouse gas emissions impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as… Continue Reading

New Features and Updates to the Constitution Annotated Website

In Custodia Legis: “Written in “plain English“, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, better known as the Constitution Annotated, has served as Congress’s Constitution of record for over one hundred years. A Senate document, the Constitution Annotated is prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and provides objective, authoritative, timely, and… Continue Reading

As Partisan Hostility Grows, Signs of Frustration With the Two-Party System

Pew Research Center Report – “Nearly half of younger adults say they ‘wish there were more parties to choose from’. Partisan polarization has long been a fact of political life in the United States. But increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative… Continue Reading

Feds’ pay lags 22.5% behind private sector

Federal News Network – “Salaries for federal employees fall significantly behind the private sector, the Federal Salary Council reported [August 5, 2022]. The council reported the pay disparity between public and private sector employees, on average, was 22.47%. In late 2020, the council calculated the pay gap at 23.11%. The pay disparity is calculated based… Continue Reading

A Century of Business in the Supreme Court, 1920-2020

Epstein, Lee and Gulati, Mitu, A Century of Business in the Supreme Court, 1920-2020 (August 3, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4178504&stream=top “A decade and a half into its life, we ask: How pro business is the Roberts Court? Using a simple objective measure – how often does business win in the Court when it is… Continue Reading

DOJ is suing to make sure women who need medically necessary abortions can actually get them

Vox: “A month after the Supreme Court’s decision overruling Roe v. Wade, it’s unclear whether many patients with dangerous pregnancies can receive medically necessary abortions. Some women have traveled to other states for lifesaving care because doctors in their home state feared prosecution. Others were left to bleed by their health care providers who feared… Continue Reading

Celebrating over 3,000 Historical and Contemporary Legal Reports Now Online

In Custodia Legis: “For more than eighty years, the Law Library of Congress has been engaged in the preparation of research reports on legal topics, with an emphasis on foreign, comparative, and international law, in response to requests from Congress, the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, and others. The Law Library has… Continue Reading

Open-source flight trackers have been repeatedly used to break news over the last few weeks

Vice: “More than 700,000 people were tracking the flight path of the U.S. military plane believed to be carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning. She touched down in Taiwan at 10:50 pm local time, making Pelosi the first high-ranking American official to visit the self-governing island in 25 years, amid threats of a military… Continue Reading

Policing Reimagined

Via LLRX – Policing Reimagined – The thesis of Albert Chang’s paper is the metaverse presents a unique opportunity for effective police reforms. Developers, data scientists and legal sector experts working within the metaverse may be able to implement changes more efficiently than Congress as they are not subject to constitutional constraints. Chang advocates a position… Continue Reading

The Vacancies Act: A Legal Overview

CRS Report – The Vacancies Act: A Legal Overview Updated August 1, 2022: “The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Act) generally provides the exclusive means by which a government employee may temporarily perform the functions and duties of a vacant advice-and-consent position in an executive agency. Unless an acting officer is serving in… Continue Reading

Seven Key Provisions in the Climate Deal

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Summaries Inflation Reduction Act – One Page Summary Tax Summary Prescription Drugs Summary Energy Security and Climate Change Investments Summary Summary from the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Summary from the Committee on Environment and Public Works The National Law Review – Summary of the Inflation Reduction Act of… Continue Reading

Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act Scorecard 2022

The FITARA 14 Scorecard was released on July 28, 2022 – This “scorecard grades federal agencies based on their performance of FITARA-related reform and improvement activities and serves as a tool for Congress, chief information officers, agency heads, and outside stakeholders to better understand how agencies across the government are managing and securing their information… Continue Reading