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Defense Primer: Legal Authorities for the Use of Military Forces [December 7, 2016]
From the Document: "By the Framers' apparent design, in order to keep the nation's 'purse' and the 'sword' in separate hands and in other ways hinder its embroilment in unnecessary wars, the Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the President. Congress is empowered to declare war, provide for and regulate the Armed Forces, and issue letters of marque and reprisal, as well as to call forth the militia to suppress an insurrection, repel an invasion, or 'execute the Laws of the Union.' The President, as the Commander in Chief, has the responsibility to direct the Armed Forces as they conduct hostilities, put down insurrections, or execute the law when constitutionally authorized to do so. But the extent to which the President has independent authority under the Constitution, without explicit statutory support, to use the military for purposes other than to repel a sudden attack is the subject of long-standing debate. At the same time, efforts in Congress to exercise its constitutional war powers in some way that is perceived to constrain military operations have met with objections that the constitutional separation of powers is imperiled."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Elsea, Jennifer
2016-12-07
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Defense Primer: Cyberspace Operations [December 8, 2016]
From the Document: "The Department of Defense (DOD) has defined cyberspace as a global domain within the information environment consisting of the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures and resident data, including the Internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems, and embedded processors and controllers. The DOD Information Network (DODIN) is a global infrastructure carrying DOD, national security, and related intelligence community information and intelligence. Cyberspace operations are composed of the military, intelligence, and ordinary business operations of the DOD in and through cyberspace. Military cyberspace operations use cyberspace capabilities to create effects that support operations across the physical domains and cyberspace. Cyberspace operations differ from information operations (IO), which are specifically concerned with the use of information-related capabilities, such as military information support operations or military deception, during military operations to affect the decision making of adversaries while protecting our own. IO may use cyberspace as a medium, but it may also employ capabilities from the physical domains."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Theohary, Catherine A.
2016-12-08
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Defense Primer: The Department of Defense [December 13, 2016]
From the Document: "The Department of Defense (DOD) was established after World War II through the 1947 National Security Act. At the time, some, including President Truman, took the view that the different components of the U.S. military had been insufficiently integrated to wage World War II effectively. The intention of the 1947 Act was therefore to create, for the first time, an integrated institution that combined the Departments of War and Navy, and to establish a policy architecture for overseeing the newly reorganized military apparatus. Over time, DOD has grown into one of the largest bureaucracies in the world, comprising over 3 million employees stationed across the United States and around the globe."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
McInnis, Kathleen J.
2016-12-13
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Defense Primer: Special Operations Forces [December 13, 2016]
From the Document: "Special Operations Forces (SOF) are those active duty and reserve component forces of the military services designated by the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and specifically selected, organized, trained, and equipped to conduct and support special operations. Special operations frequently require unique modes of employment, tactics, techniques, procedures, and equipment. They are often conducted in hostile, politically, and/or diplomatically sensitive environments, and are characterized by one or more of the following: time-sensitivity, clandestine or covert nature, low visibility, work with or through indigenous forces, greater requirements for regional orientation and cultural expertise, and a high degree of risk. SOF's core activities are listed below."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Torreon, Barbara Salazar; Feickert, Andrew
2016-12-13
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Defense Primer: Reserve Forces [December 9, 2016]
From the Document: "The term 'reserve component' (RC) refers collectively to the seven individual reserve components of the Armed Forces. Congress exercises authority over the reserve components under its constitutional authority 'to raise and support Armies,' 'to provide and maintain a Navy,' and 'to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia....' (Article I, Section 8) There are seven reserve components. [...] The purpose of these seven reserve components, as codified in law, is to 'provide trained units and qualified persons available for active duty in the armed forces, in time of war or national emergency, and at such other times as the national security may require, to fill the needs of the armed forces whenever more units and persons are needed than are in the regular components.' The Army National Guard and the Air National Guard also have an important role under state authority, responding to various emergencies such as disasters and civil disorders."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Kapp, Lawrence
2016-12-09
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Defense Primer: Commanding U.S. Military Operations [December 13, 2016]
From the Document: "Military operations, both in peacetime and in war, are an inherently complex undertaking. One key to success, therefore, is a clear, unified chain of command. This enables senior leaders in the U.S. government--in particular, the President and the Secretary of Defense--to command and control military forces around the world."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
McInnis, Kathleen J.
2016-12-13
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Defense Primer: Department of the Army [December 13, 2016]
From the Document: "Article I, Section 8, Clause 12 of the Constitution stipulates, "The Congress shall have power ... to raise and support Armies ... make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces ... for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions." The Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments reporting to the Department of Defense (DOD). The Army's primary mission is to fight and win the nation's ground wars. The Army's mission is both operational and institutional, and it is composed of four distinct components: the regular Active component (AC), the reserve components of the United States Army Reserve (USAR), the Army National Guard (ARNG), and Department of the Army civilians (DAC)."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Torreon, Barbara Salazar; Feickert, Andrew
2016-12-13
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Defense Primer: United States Airpower [December 13, 2016]
From the Document: "Almost since the invention of heavier-than-air flight, control of the air has been seen as a military advantage. Over time, the United States has come to treat air superiority as a necessity, and built such capable air forces that no enemy aircraft has killed U.S. ground troops since 1953. Modern airpower is able to provide a full range of effects, from strategic operations at intercontinental ranges to direct support of troops in combat. Today, every branch of the U.S. military employs air forces for various purposes, employing nearly 14,000 aircraft."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Gertler, Jeremiah
2016-12-13
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Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate Program: Background and Issues for Congress [March 21, 2017]
"The Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate program is a program to procure a large number of LCSs and modified LCSs. The modified LCSs are to be referred to as frigates. The LCS program has been controversial over the years due to past cost growth, design and construction issues with the lead ships built to each design (including, most recently, multiple problems with the ships' propulsion systems), concerns over the ships' survivability (i.e., ability to withstand battle damage), concerns over whether the ships are sufficiently armed and would be able to perform their stated missions effectively, and concerns over the development and testing of the ships' modular mission packages. The Navy's execution of the program has been a matter of congressional oversight attention for several years. Two very different baseline LCS designs are currently being built. [...] The LCS program poses several issues for Congress, including whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy's FY2017 funding requests for the program, and whether to approve, reject, or modify the Secretary of Defense's December 2015 direction to the Navy to reduce the program from 52 ships to 40, and to neck down to a single design variant not later than FY2019."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
O'Rourke, Ronald
2017-03-21
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U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: Trends and Current Issues [March 21, 2017]
"The United States is the largest investor abroad and the largest recipient of direct investment in the world. For some Americans, the national gains attributed to investing overseas are offset by such perceived losses as displaced U.S. workers and lower wages. Some observers believe U.S. firms invest abroad to avoid U.S. labor unions or high U.S. wages, however, 74% of the accumulated U.S. foreign direct investment is concentrated in high income developed countries, who are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Even more striking is the fact that the share of investment going to developing countries has fallen in recent years. Most economists conclude that direct investment abroad as a whole does not lead to fewer jobs or lower incomes overall for Americans and that the majority of jobs lost among U.S. manufacturing firms over the past decade reflect a broad restructuring of U.S. manufacturing industries responding primarily to domestic economic forces. In the 115th Congress, Members introduced a number of measures that would affect U.S. multinational companies in their foreign investment activities: (1) H.R. 685 and S. 247 (Bring Jobs Home Act) that would provide certain tax exemptions to U.S. multinational firms to induce them to redirect economic activity from a foreign subsidiary to a domestic U.S. operation."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Jackson, James K., 1949-
2017-03-21
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Defense Primer: The National Defense Budget Function (050) [March 17, 2017]
From the Document: "The budget function classification system provides a framework for examining spending patterns of the federal government by category of activity, rather than by agency or type of financing. Within the system, spending categories are called functions, and each is coded with both an explanatory title and numeric code ending in zero (and shown in parenthesis). This defense primer addresses the National Defense Budget (050), which is frequently used to explain trends in military spending but which also includes some activities not conducted by the Department of Defense."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Mann, Christopher
2017-03-17
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Iran Sanctions [March 31, 2017]
From the Summary: "The comprehensive nuclear accord (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), finalized on July 14, 2015, provides Iran broad relief from U.S., U.N., and multilateral sanctions on Iran's civilian economic sectors. On January 16, 2016, upon the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) certification that Iran had complied with the stipulated nuclear dismantlement commitments. U.S. administration waivers of relevant sanctions laws took effect and relevant Executive Orders (E.O.s) were revoked, and corresponding U.N. and EU sanctions were lifted ('Implementation Day'). Remaining in place are those secondary sanctions (sanctions on foreign firms) that have been imposed because of Iran's support for terrorism, its human rights abuses, its interference in specified countries in the region, and its missile and advanced conventional weapons programs. Also remaining in place are U.S. and most EU sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its sanctioned sub-units, commanders, and affiliates. A general ban on U.S. trade with and investment in Iran, including regulations barring transactions between U.S. and Iranian banks, remain in place. Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, most U.N. sanctions terminated as of Implementation Day, but some U.N. restrictions on Iran's development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and its importation or exportation of arms remain in place for several years. Iran was able to develop its nuclear and missile programs and to assist pro-Iranian movements and governments in the region even when sanctions had maximum effect. Still, the relief from sanctions on Iran's most vital sectors has returned Iran's economy to growth and enabled Iran to potentially expand its weapons programs and increase its regional influence."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Katzman, Kenneth
2017-03-31
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Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate Program: Background and Issues for Congress [April 6, 2017]
From the Summary: "The Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate program is a program to procure a large number of LCSs and modified LCSs. The modified LCSs are to be referred to as frigates. The LCS program has been controversial over the years due to past cost growth, design and construction issues with the lead ships built to each design (including, most recently, multiple problems with the ships' propulsion systems), concerns over the ships' survivability (i.e., ability to withstand battle damage), concerns over whether the ships are sufficiently armed and would be able to perform their stated missions effectively, and concerns over the development and testing of the ships' modular mission packages. The Navy's execution of the program has been a matter of congressional oversight attention for several years. [...] The Navy's proposed FY2017 budget requests $1,125.6 million for the procurement of the 27th and 28th LCSs, or an average of $562.8 million for each ship. The Navy's proposed FY2017 budget also requests $86 million in so-called "cost-to-complete" procurement funding to cover cost growth on LCSs procured in previous fiscal years, and $139.4 million for procurement of LCS mission module equipment. The LCS program poses several issues for Congress, including whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy's FY2017 funding requests for the program, and whether to approve, reject, or modify the Secretary of Defense's December 2015 direction to the Navy to reduce the program from 52 ships to 40, and to neck down to a single design variant not later than FY2019."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
O'Rourke, Ronald
2017-04-06
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Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) [March 31, 2017]
From the Summary: "The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is comprised of nine members, two ex officio members, and other members as appointed by the President representing major departments and agencies within the federal executive branch. While the group generally has operated in relative obscurity, the proposed acquisition of commercial operations at six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World in 2006 placed the group's operations under intense scrutiny by Members of Congress and the public. Prompted by this case, some Members of the 109th and 110th Congresses questioned the ability of Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities given the general view that CFIUS's operations lack transparency. Other Members revisited concerns about the linkage between national security and the role of foreign investment in the U.S. economy. Some Members of Congress and others argued that the nation's security and economic concerns had changed following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and that those concerns were not being reflected sufficiently in the Committee's deliberations. In addition, anecdotal evidence seemed to indicate that the CFIUS process was not market neutral. Instead, a CFIUS investigation of an investment transaction may have been perceived by some firms and by some in the financial markets as a negative factor that added to uncertainty and may have spurred firms to engage in behavior that may not have been optimal for the economy as a whole."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Jackson, James K., 1949-
2017-03-31
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Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Federal Funding and Issues [April 4, 2017]
From the Summary: "The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) receives its funding through federal appropriations; overall, about 15% of public television and 10% of radio broadcasting funding comes from the federal appropriations that CPB distributes. CPB's appropriation is allocated through a distribution formula established in its authorizing legislation and has historically received two-year advanced appropriations. Congressional policymakers are increasingly interested in the federal role in supporting CPB due to concerns over the federal debt, the role of the federal government funding for public radio and television, and whether public broadcasting provides a balanced and nuanced approach to covering news of national interest. It is also important to note that many congressional policymakers defend the federal role of funding public broadcasting. […] The two-year advanced appropriations process for CPB means that in any given year congressional policymakers are considering what the CPB appropriations will be two years from that time. So as Congress continues to consider funding for the FY2017 fiscal year, that deliberation will include CPB funding for FY2019. On June 9, 2016, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 29-1 to approve S.Rept. 114-274, the FY2017 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. Included in this report is $445 million for CPB in FY2019. However, Congress has not passed a final FY2017 appropriations bill; the most recent funding is a continuing resolution bill, P.L. 114-223, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 9, 2016. The Trump administration has requested zero funding for CPB in FY2018."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
McLoughlin, Glenn J.; Gomez, Lena A.
2017-04-04
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How Measures Are Brought to the Senate Floor: A Brief Introduction [April 6, 2017]
From the Summary: "Two basic methods are used by the Senate to bring legislation to the floor for consideration: (1) The Senate, at the majority leader's request, grants unanimous consent to take up a matter, or (2) it agrees to his motion to proceed to consider it. Because the motion to proceed is subject to debate in most circumstances, it is less frequently used. Both methods are derived from the basic premise that the Senate as a body may decide what matters it considers. The Senate may also use the same two methods to bring up executive business (nominations and treaties). This report will be updated to reflect changes in Senate practice."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Davis, Christopher M., 1966-
2017-04-06
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Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy [April 13, 2017]
"The uprising against Bahrain's Al Khalifa ruling family that began on February 14, 2011, has diminished in intensity, but continued incarceration of dissident leaders, opposition boycotts of elections, and small demonstrations counter government assertions that Bahrain has 'returned to normal.' The mostly Shiite opposition to the Sunni-minority-led regime has not achieved its goal of establishing a constitutional monarchy, but the unrest has compelled the ruling family to undertake modest reforms. The vast bulk of the opposition uses peaceful forms of dissent, but small, underground factions, possibly backed by Iran, have claimed responsibility for bombings and other attacks primarily against security officials. […] The Trump Administration's stance on Iran comports closely with that of Bahrain's leadership, which has repeatedly asserted that Iran is providing material support to violent opposition factions. Bahrain expressed the same concerns about the Iran nuclear agreement ('Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,'JCPOA) that have been articulated by President Trump and by the other Gulf states-that sanctions relief has contributed to Iran's expansion of its regional influence. However, as part of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) consensus, Bahraini leaders have publicly expressed support for the JCPOA as precluding Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The Trump Administration has lifted conditionality on some major arms sales, particularly the sale of additional F-16 combat aircraft, prompting Bahrain opposition criticism that the new Administration is sacrificing human rights concerns to focus on countering Iran."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Katzman, Kenneth
2017-04-13
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Cost-Benefit Analysis and Financial Regulator Rulemaking [April 12, 2017]
"Congress has granted many federal agencies the authority to issue regulations that carry the force of law. This grant of authority raises the issue of how those agencies should be held accountable for the regulations they implement. One method of maintaining accountability is requiring agencies to analyze the potential effects of new regulations-sometimes called 'regulatory analysis' or 'regulatory impact analysis'-before implementing them and making the analyses public during the rulemaking process. An important and commonly performed type of regulatory analysis is a 'cost-benefit analysis' (CBA)-a systematic examination, estimation, and comparison of the economic costs and benefits resulting from the implementation of a new rule. By performing and making public such analyses, an agency demonstrates that it has given reasoned consideration to the necessity and efficacy of a rule and the effects it will have on society. […] This report examines issues related to financial regulators and CBAs, including potential difficulties facing such regulators and methods available to them when preforming a CBA; the analytical requirements the agencies currently face; and the arguments for and against increasing requirements on financial regulators. This report also briefly describes several examples of proposed legislation that would change the requirements facing financial regulators."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Perkins, David W.; Carey, Maeve P.
2017-04-12
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Congressional News Media and the House and Senate Press Galleries [April 13, 2017]
"The House and Senate press galleries provide services both for journalists and for Members of Congress. The news media helps Members communicate with the public, and enables the public to learn about policy initiatives, understand the legislative process, and observe elected officials representing their constituents. In the earliest Congresses, news reports commonly provided the most comprehensive record of congressional proceedings, even for Members themselves, because few official documents were kept. To accommodate the press, and in response to its growth through the mid-19th century, the House and Senate established formal press galleries in 1877, providing resources and organization for journalists reporting from the Capitol. This report provides information about the rules and authorities that affect media coverage of Congress, current practices among the press galleries, and selected data on gallery membership since the 94th Congress. It also provides a brief discussion of considerations that commonly underlie the galleries' practices or may affect gallery operations and congressional media rules."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Eckman, Sarah J.
2017-04-13
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Video Broadcasting of Congressional Proceedings [April 17, 2017]
"From postal mail to social media, Members of Congress have regularly adopted and utilized new communications tools to better inform constituents about the workings of Congress and important policy matters. Some of these communications advancements also facilitate better information within Congress as it undertakes its legislative work. By the mid-20th century, radio and television broadcasts offered Congress the ability, for the first time, to provide real-time information about events unfolding on the chamber floors or in committees. […] This report begins with a brief history of early congressional experiences with television coverage and background on the decisions to allow regular committee and floor broadcasts. The next sections describe how video coverage is administered within Congress, discussing rules, regulations, and authorities affecting video recording and broadcasting for House committees, House floor proceedings, Senate committees, and Senate floor proceedings. A brief overview of C-SPAN's history, organization, and operating structure is then provided. The final sections of this report discuss some recent events related to congressional video and highlight some of the new challenges presented by smartphone and wireless broadcasting technologies."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Eckman, Sarah J.
2017-04-17
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U.S. Strike on Syrian Airbase: Legal under International Law? [April 17, 2017]
"In his letter to Congress under the War Powers Resolution, President Trump cited his Article II powers as his domestic legal authority for the April 6 missile strike on Al Shayrat airbase in Syria, but did not describe a legal basis to justify the action under international law. The missile strike may raise questions under international law including, in particular, whether the action is consistent with U.S. obligations under the U.N. Charter. The answer may in turn raise questions about whether the validity of the international legal basis has any bearing on the validity of the action pursuant to U.S. domestic law. This Sidebar provides a brief overview."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
2017-04-17
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Justice Kennedy Retires: Initial Considerations for Congress [June 28, 2018]
From the Document: "On June 27, 2018, hours after the Supreme Court released its final opinions for the term, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, announced that, effective July 31, 2018, he would retire from active service as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Nominated to replace Justice Lewis Powell in 1987, Justice Kennedy has served on the Court for more than three decades. Like his predecessor, Justice Kennedy has often been referred to as the Court's 'swing' vote. Justice Kennedy has pushed back against such a moniker, declaring in a 2015 speech that '[t]he cases swing, I don't.' But his central role on the Court in recent decades, and in particular in the Roberts Court era, cannot be overstated. Since the Roberts Court began in 2005, Justice Kennedy has been the justice who cast his votes most often with the majority of the Court in all but three terms. (Chief Justice Roberts edged out Justice Kennedy in the most recent term and the October 2007 term, while Justice Breyer was the most frequent justice in the majority during the October 2014 term). This Sidebar highlights various areas of law in which Justice Kennedy--either by authoring or joining a Supreme Court opinion--proved consequential to the trajectory of Supreme Court jurisprudence. In so doing, this post provides a broad overview of key legal issues Congress (and, more specifically the Senate, through its advice and consent role) may wish to consider as it reflects on Justice Kennedy's jurisprudence and how his eventual successor might shape the future of the Court, Congress, and the nation as a whole."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Nolan, Andrew; Garcia, Michael John
2018-06-28
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Organizing Executive Branch Agencies: Who Makes the Call? [June 27, 2018]
"In a series of executive orders, directives, and publicly released recommendations, the Trump Administration has proposed reorganizing the executive branch. The reorganization proposals range from restructuring entities within an existing agency, to moving entities from one existing agency to another, to consolidating existing agencies into newly created departments, to privatizing certain government agencies. The Administration has indicated that it considers some of these proposals to be within its existing authority, while others may require new legislation authorizing such action. These orders and proposals have prompted a recurring question concerning the composition of the federal government: who decides how to organize agencies and departments within the executive branch? The ultimate answer to this question is Congress. Legislative enactments create executive agencies and delegate authority to those entities to carry out various statutory functions and duties. But executive branch agencies also typically enjoy some discretion in determining how best to structure themselves to carry out their statutory responsibilities, provided that reorganization does not conflict with their governing statutes or legislative funding restrictions."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Cole, Jared P.
2018-06-27
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UPDATE: Supreme Court Takes Fourth Amendment Case about Cell Phone Location Data [June 26, 2018]
"Update: On June 22, 2018, the Supreme Court held in a 5-to-4 decision in Carpenter v. United States that government acquisition of historical cell site location information (CSLI) constitutes a Fourth Amendment search. The Court further held that the government needs a warrant supported by probable cause--not merely a court order under the Stored Communications Act--to acquire historical CSLI in most circumstances. The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice Roberts and joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, concluded that 'an individual maintains a legitimate expectation of privacy in the record of his physical movements as captured through CSLI.' A central issue in the case concerned the viability of the Court's third-party doctrine, which generally recognizes that no reasonable expectation of privacy exists as to information that a person discloses voluntarily to third parties. The majority in Carpenter reasoned that the third-party doctrine, which developed in cases holding that individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the telephone numbers that they dial or in financial records held by their banks, does not apply to CSLI, because '[t]here is a world of difference between the limited types of personal information addressed in [those cases] and the exhaustive chronicle of location information casually collected by wireless carriers today.' The Court recognized, however, that certain exceptions to the warrant requirement, including the exception for ongoing emergencies, remain in place and will likely allow law enforcement to obtain CSLI without a warrant in some circumstances."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Harrington, Ben
2018-06-26
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Supreme Court Drives Home Its Concern for Privacy in Collins v. Virginia [June 26, 2018]
"Facing a clash between two well-established Fourth Amendment doctrines--the primacy of the home in Fourth Amendment case law versus the 'automobile exception' to the Amendment's warrant requirement --the Supreme Court in Collins v. Virginia ultimately came down on the side of protecting privacy within the home and its adjoining property. In so doing, the Court clarified the scope of the automobile exception, holding that the exception does not provide an independent basis for police to enter an individual's home or its curtilage without a warrant to search a vehicle on the property. This Sidebar discusses the Collins decision and its potential implications for Fourth Amendment law."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Hanna, Jillian C.
2018-06-26
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Supreme Court Nomination: CRS Products [July 2, 2018]
"On June 27, 2018, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, effective July 31, 2018, ending a thirty-year tenure on the Court."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Nolan, Andrew
2018-07-02
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Media Consolidation: United States v. AT&T and Implications for Future Transactions [June 29, 2018]
"On June 12, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.C. District Court) ruled that the proposed merger of AT&T, Inc. (AT&T) with Time Warner Inc. (Time Warner) could proceed without conditions, after one of the most closely watched antitrust trials in recent memory. The companies announced their intent to merge in October 2016. After examining the transaction for over a year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) challenged the proposed merger in November of 2017, arguing that consolidation of AT&T, a communications and satellite television provider, with Time Warner, a programming aggregator, would substantially lessen competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 18). The court, after conducting a six-week trial examining the evidence, held that the government had not met its burden of proof under Section 7. The AT&T/Time Warner merger closed on June 14, 2018."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Ruane, Kathleen Ann
2018-06-29
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Partisan Gerrymandering: Supreme Court Provides Guidance on Standing and Maintains Legal Status Quo [July 2, 2018]
"In a redistricting case that some predicted could have resulted in a 'blockbuster' ruling, Gill v. Whitford, the Supreme Court issued a more limited, yet still consequential decision. On June 18, 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that in order to establish standing to sue upon a claim of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering on the basis of vote dilution, challengers must allege injuries to their interests as voters in individual districts. (Vote dilution arises when district boundaries devalue one citizen's vote as compared to others and is accomplished by 'packing' certain voters into a few districts, so that they win elections by large margins, and 'cracking' certain voters among several districts, so that they fail to achieve a voting majority.) Because the challengers in Gill alleged statewide harm to voters of a particular political party--that is, to voters throughout the state who support the Democratic Party--without establishing proof of injury to specific voters within a particular district, the Supreme Court ruled that they failed to establish standing, and in an atypical move, remanded the case to the district court for reargument. On the same day the Court issued Gill, the Court also decided Benisek v. Lamone, holding that a district court did not abuse its discretion by denying a preliminary injunction to challengers claiming that a Maryland congressional district was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Whitaker, L. Paige
2018-07-02
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Equal Rights Amendment: Close to Adoption? [July 2, 2018]
"Illinois' recent ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution has revived questions about the potential for the amendment to be adopted. First presented to the states in 1972, the ERA provides that '[e]quality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.' 37 states have now ratified the ERA, and some supporters of the amendment maintain that ratification by just one additional state could result in its adoption. After ratification by one more state, the ERA will have been ratified by three-fourths of the states, as required by Article V of the Constitution. Whether the ERA can be so adopted, however, is not entirely certain. Questions concerning the expiration of Congress's original ratification deadline without approval by three-fourths of the states, and the rescission of ratifications by five states between 1973 and 1978, would likely have to be addressed before the ERA would be formally adopted."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Shimabukuro, Jon O.
2018-07-02
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U.S. Research and Development Funding and Performance: Fact Sheet [June 29, 2018]
"Research and development (R&D) in the United States is funded and performed by a number of sectors--including the federal government, state governments, businesses, academia, and nonprofit organizations--for a variety of purposes. This fact sheet begins by providing a profile of the U.S. R&D enterprise, including historical trends and current funding by sector and by whether the R&D is basic research, applied research, or development. The final section of this fact sheet includes data on R&D performance by sector."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Sargent, John F., Jr.
2018-06-29