This report provides background information on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and discusses the authority and funding distributions.

This report discusses whether Congress has the power to implement legislation restricting the President from using nuclear weapons under the separation of powers principle.

This report discusses border disputes between China and India in the Himalayas and the recent dispute at Doka La over China extending a road into disputed territory between Bhutan and China.

This report provides background and analysis of U.S.-China commercial ties, including history, trends, issues, and outlook.

This report discusses the federal debt limit and the crisis of 2011 in reaching the debt limit. Subsequent developments in extending the debt limit and using extraordinary measures to meet government obligations since then are outlined up to the present.

This report discuses the Diversity Immigrant Visa program (DV) which is a lottery system that makes 50,000 visas available annually to immigrants from countries who had sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. over the last five years. Eligibility, the application and admission process, statistics on places of origin, and legislative proposals are discussed.

This report discusses the federal budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2018 released by the Trump Administration on May 23, 2017.

This report describes the history and rationale behind the creation of the House Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), its operations, and its relationship with the House Committee on Ethics, and potential options available for Congress if further amendments to the House ethics process are desired.

This report discusses the possibility raised by the Trump administration of imposing a 20% tax, or fee, on imports from Mexico, presumably including imports of crude oil.

This report provides information and analysis on a boycott, divestment, and sanctions ("BDS") movement against Israel. It also analyzes economic measures that "differentiate" or might be seen as differentiating between (1) Israel in general and (2) entities linked with Israeli-developed areas and settlements (whose legality is questioned under international law).

This report describes Juneteenth (also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Black Independence Day), which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.

This report provides an overview of Lebanon's political and governmental structure, economy, security situation, refugee population, and other current issues of U.S. interest. It provides background information, analyzes recent developments and key policy debates, and tracks legislation, U.S. assistance, and recent congressional action.

This report a brief overview of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and discusses the legislative process known as budget reconciliation in an effort to repeal parts of the ACA.

This report discusses the funding sources of Medicare and its financial stability.

This report discusses the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) which is the lead federal agency dedicated to supporting the development and expansion of the minority business community. Currently, the MBDA provides a number of services principally through a network of business centers located in areas with the largest concentration of minority populations and the largest number of minority businesses. The Trump Administration's budget request for FY2018 proposes to reduce the agency's appropriation from $34 million appropriated for FY2017 to $6 million for FY2018. The proposed funds would be used to cover the cost of terminating the agency and its activities. Contrary to the Administration's request, the House Committee on Appropriations approved a Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 3267), which was later incorporated into H.R. 3357 that the House passed on September 14, 2017, and would provide $34 million for MBDA. On July 27, 2017, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved S. 1662, its version of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Appropriations bill for FY2018. The bill also recommended an appropriation of $34 million for MBDA.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, and gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition strategies and proposed funding levels for the Aegis BMD program. Congress's decisions on the Aegis BMD program could significantly affect U.S. BMD capabilities and funding requirements, and the BMD-related industrial base.

This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class aircraft carrier program. The Navy's proposed FY2017 budget requests a total of $2,662.6 million in procurement and advance procurement (AP) funding for CVN-79 and CVN-80, the second and third ships in the program.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) program.

This report discusses various legal questions raised by President Trump's announcement of the U.S.'s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Questions addressed include the withdrawal process, whether the agreement is binding or non-binding, the role of United States in other international climate meetings, and why President Trump announced the exit.

This report discusses legal questions related to President's Trump's announcement that the United States intends to leave the Paris Climate Agreement.

This report provides a brief history of the state of Qatar, discussing its governance and human rights. The report also includes U.S.-Qatari defense and security cooperation and economic issues.

This report discusses the rule of qualified immunity for police officers, which prevents officers from being sued for actions taken in the course of their job unless there was a clear decision by the officer to break the law or incompetence. It specifically discusses the case of "White v. Pauly" heard by the Supreme Court, which upheld qualified immunity for Officer White after he was accused of violating a suspect's fourth amendment rights by use of excessive force to seize the suspect who had been fatally shot during the incident.

This report discusses resolutions of inquiry in the House of Representatives which allow the House to demand the President or an executive department head to furnish the House with specific factual information in the Administration's possession. Under the rules and precedents of the House of Representatives, such resolutions, if properly drafted, are given a privileged parliamentary status. Between 1947 and October 20, 2017, 313 resolutions of inquiry were submitted in the House of Representatives. Two periods in particular, 1971-1975 and 2003-2006, saw the highest levels of activity on resolutions of inquiry during the 70 years studied.

This report opens with a discussion of the rationale provided for having a Microloan program, describes the program's eligibility standards and operating requirements for lenders and borrowers, and examines the arguments presented by the program's critics and advocates. It then discusses P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which increased the Microloan program's loan limit for borrowers from $35,000 to $50,000, and the aggregate loan limit for intermediaries after their first year of participation in the program from $3.5 million to $5 million. It also discusses H.R. 2056, the Microloan Modernization Act of 2017, and S. 526, its companion bill in the Senate. The bill, as amended, was favorably reported by the House Committee on Small Business on July 12, 2017, and agreed to by the House on July 24, 2017, by voice vote.