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Reducing the Budget Deficit: The President's Fiscal Commission and Other Initiatives

Posted Fri, 04/29/2011 - 00:00

The federal budget is on an unsustainable path. Though deficit levels are currently elevated, they are expected to fall towards the middle part of the decade as the economic recovery continues. Looking beyond this decade, however, the country's fiscal outlook becomes more bleak as spending on programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and net interest are projected to consume a larger portion of the total federal budget.

The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress

Posted Fri, 04/29/2011 - 00:00

Campaign finance policy is arguably at a crossroads. For decades, Congress, regulatory agencies, and courts have emphasized the need to reduce potential corruption by providing public disclosure of information about campaign contributions and expenditures. Preventing corruption and enhancing transparency remain prominent themes in campaign finance policy, but what those goals mean and how they should be accomplished appears to be in flux.

Duration of Continuing Resolutions in Recent Years

Posted Thu, 04/28/2011 - 00:00

Continuing appropriations acts (commonly known as continuing resolutions or CRs), which provide interim funding in the event that regular appropriations have not been enacted, have been an integral component of the annual appropriations process for decades. Whenever action on one or more of the regular appropriations acts for a fiscal year is incomplete, an issue that arises is the appropriate duration of any period for which continuing resolutions will be used.

U.S. Global Food Security Funding, FY2010-FY2012

Posted Thu, 04/28/2011 - 00:00

The United States currently addresses issues related to global hunger and food security through two primary types of approaches: (1) agricultural development and (2) emergency and humanitarian food aid and assistance. Agricultural development activities, such as the Administration's Feed the Future initiative and some emergency food assistance programs, are administered primarily by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) using existing authorities provided in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.

The Senior Executive Service: Background and Options for Reform

Posted Thu, 04/28/2011 - 00:00

The Senior Executive Service (SES) was established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA; P.L. 95-454, 92 Stat. 1111). Congress created the SES to provide a government-wide, mobile corps of managers within federal agencies. The SES, comprising mostly career appointees who are chosen through a merit staffing process, is the link between the politically appointed heads of agencies and the career civil servants within those agencies.

Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations

Posted Wed, 04/27/2011 - 00:00

The gross federal debt, which represents the federal government's total outstanding debt, consists of two types of debt: (1) debt held by the public and (2) debt held in government accounts, also known as intragovernmental debt. Federal government borrowing increases for two primary reasons: (1) budget deficits and (2) investments of any federal government account surpluses in Treasury securities, as required by law. Nearly all of this debt is subject to the statutory limit. The federal debt limit currently stands at $14,294 billion.

Securing Nuclear Materials: The 2010 Summit and Issues for Congress

Posted Wed, 04/27/2011 - 00:00

In an April 2009 speech in Prague, President Obama pledged that his Administration would launch "a new international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years." To motivate world leaders to achieve this goal, the President hosted a Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, on April 12-13, 2010. Leaders of 47 countries attended the summit, including many heads of state. Attendees represent a wide geographic range of states and nuclear capabilities, and include China, India, Israel, and Pakistan.

Panama: Political and Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations

Posted Fri, 04/22/2011 - 00:00

With five successive elected civilian governments, the Central American nation of Panama has made notable political and economic progress since the 1989 U.S. military intervention that ousted the regime of General Manuel Noriega from power. Current President Ricardo Martinelli of the center-right Democratic Change (CD) party was elected in May 2009, defeating the ruling center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) in a landslide. Martinelli was inaugurated to a five-year term on July 1, 2009.

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Independent and Other Agencies During the 110th Congress

Posted Wed, 04/20/2011 - 00:00

The appointment process for advice and consent positions consists of three main stages. The first stage is selection, clearance, and nomination by the President. This step includes preliminary vetting, background checks, and ethics checks of potential nominees. At this stage, the President may also consult with Senators who are from the same party if the position is located in a state. The second stage of the process is consideration of the nomination in the Senate, most of which takes place in committee.

National Forest System (NFS) Roadless Area Initiatives

Posted Mon, 04/18/2011 - 00:00

Roadless areas in the National Forest System (NFS) have received special attention for decades. Many want to protect their relatively pristine condition; others want to use the areas in more developed ways. Two different roadless area policies have been offered in the last decade. On January 12, 2001, the Clinton Administration's roadless area policy established a nationwide approach to managing roadless areas in the National Forest System to protect their pristine conditions.