This report discusses the Obama Administration's recent request for over $1 billion in foreign assistance during FY2016 to support a whole-of-government "U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America."

This report briefly discusses authorization legislation for the water resources activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in 2016, which the 114th Congress is anticipated to consider. These issues span the agency's role in new and existing navigation improvements, coastal and riverine flood risk reduction, and environmental restoration and protection efforts.

Some press reports have suggested that the full Senate could vote in relation to the nomination of Merrick B. Garland to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, even if the Senate Judiciary Committee does not act on the nomination. This report addresses questions concerning the exact nature of such a vote; it also explains the procedural steps that could be necessary to bring the nomination to a direct vote on the floor.

This report provides data and analysis related to Supreme Court vacancies since 1797 that arose during one presidency and were filled during a different presidency.

This report briefly discusses the implications of a recent announcement from Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al Nusra, stating that it was reconstituting itself as an independent group.

The amount of "slack" in the labor market--jobless or underemployed workers--has consequences for the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the future path of the budget deficit, and counter-cyclical spending on programs such as unemployment insurance. This report briefly examines this concept in the context of the current economy.

This report discusses the 10th annual North American Leaders' Summit (NALS), in which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

This report discusses the international response to the financial crisis, which included the creation of a Financial Stability Board (FSB) largely made up of various national financial regulators and the increased focus by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

This report discusses the Colombian government's revised peace accord, signed in November 2016 by President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC's leader (known as Timochenko).

This report discusses President Trump's executive order (E.O.) on U.S. offshore energy strategy including a brief overview of previous policies and the scope of the E.O.

This report analyzes Iran's 2009 presidential election, particularly the campaigns of reformist candidate Mir Hussein Musavi and incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It also describes the Obama Administration's reaction to the election results and briefly discusses the current relationship between the U.S. and Iran, as well as U.S. concerns regarding Iran, such as Iran's efforts at building a nuclear weapons program.

This report discusses an attack on U.S. Special Operation Forces assisting local military forces in Niger in counterterrorism efforts which killed four U.S. military personnel and wounded two as well as killing several Niger military personnel. The U.S. response to the attack, the growing threat of Islamic extremism and terrorism in the Sahel of Africa, and terrorism and political and social instability in Niger are also discussed.

This report discusses President's Trump's 2018 fiscal year budget request for the Department of Energy. The FY2018 request is $28.0 billion which is $2.7 billion (8.8%) less than the FY2017 enacted appropriations of $30.7 billion. While this request would reduce the total budget for DOE, it would increase overall funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and increase funding for cleanup programs within the Office of Environmental Management. The request would reduce funding for the Offices of Science, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Nuclear Energy (NE), Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), and Fossil Energy (including the Fossil Energy Research and Development [R&D] program). It would also reduce funding for the Advanced Research Projects AgencyEnergy (ARPA-E) to wind down operations in FY2018 for cessation of its functions in FY2019, and would eliminate funding for two programs within EERE--the Weatherization Assistance Program and State Energy Program--and two programs within the Loan Program Office--Title XVII Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program (Title XVII Loan Program) and Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program in FY2018.

This report discuses ransomware attacks on healthcare facilities and safeguards against loss of information in such an attack through the proper implication of HIPAA regulations for patient privacy in electronic health records.

This report discuses FEMA's (Federal Emergency Management Agency's) Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program (SAFER) and the reauthorization process in Congress. Unless legislation is passed by both the House and Senate by January 8, 2018, sunset provisions will come into effect for the programs.

This report provides a short overview of what would happen if the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) were not to be reauthorized by December 8, 2017, and was allowed to lapse.

This report reviews legislation addressing research and development on new or low-yield nuclear weapons. It does not address the policy debate on the benefits and risks of this capability.

This report discusses the 2018 National Defense Strategy which lays out the goals and methods of the Defense Department for the year.

This report discusses Senate Joint Resolution 54 which directs the President to remove U.S. forces from "hostilities in or affecting" Yemen (except for those U.S. forces engaged in counterterrorism operations directed at al Qaeda or associated forces). It provides a brief overview of U.S. involvement in Yemen both militarily and diplomatically through advisement of Saudi Arabia on reducing civilian casulaties and refueling of Saudi planes used in airstrikes.

This report discusses the meeting of leaders from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) 29 member states, scheduled to take place on hold a summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on July 11-12, 2018. Despite the heightened U.S.-European tensions, NATO officials say they expect the allies to announce new NATO initiatives in six main areas at the summit: enhancing collective defense and deterrence, defense spending and burdensharing, countering terrorism, enhancing NATO cooperation with the European Union, and NATO enlargement.

This report discusses the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DSD) Patrick Shanahan's memorandum calling for the accelerated adoption of a Department of Defense (DOD)-wide cloud computing system. Under the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) Cloud program, DOD seeks to "acquire a...cloud services solution that can support Unclassified, Secret, and Top Secret requirements," with a focus on commercially-available services.