This report discusses recent fiscal year Congressional pay raise freezes and provides: historical tables on the rate of pay for Members of Congress since 1789; details on enacted legislation with language prohibiting the automatic annual pay adjustment since the most recent adjustment; the adjustments projected by the Ethics Reform Act as compared with actual adjustments in Member pay; and Member pay in constant and current dollars since 1992.

This report discusses the Senate pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rule, which generally requires that any legislation projected to increase direct spending or reduce revenues must also include equivalent amounts of direct spending cuts, revenue increases, or a combination, so that the legislation does not increase the on-budget deficit in the current fiscal year, the budget year, a six-year period, or an 11-year period (the latter two periods beginning with the current fiscal year). This update includes the most recent changes to the rule, and adds information on points of order raised under the rule since 2015.

This report discusses U.S. monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. It provides an overview of monetary policy and recent developments, a summary of the Fed's actions following the financial crisis, and ends with a brief overview of the Fed's regulatory responsibilities.

This report discusses the Supreme Court case of "Husted v. Phillip Randolph Institute," which charges the state of Ohio with violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) through their secondary voter registration maintenance program which removes people from the voter rolls due to inactivity. It discusses a brief history of the case before its coming to the Supreme Court and possible implications of the decision.

This report discusses the oil and gas program recently approved by President Trump for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the context of the ANWR's history, its energy and biological resources, Native interests and subsistence uses, energy market conditions, and debates over protection and development.

This report contains sections on recent developments related to oil and gas wells in the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) and related issues for Congress. The report presents information on the number and location of oil and gas wells, compatibility of oil and gas activities with NWRS purposes, and regulatory mechanisms for the administration of oil and gas activities.

This report discusses disposal of nuclear waste, primarily highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Presidential and Congressional actions regarding nuclear waste disposal sites and the Yucca Mountain Project, other alternatives previously proposed by the Obama Administration, and temporary solutions are discussed.

This report analyzes the Trump Administration's decision to pullout from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its potential implications. The other powers that negotiated the accord with Iran--Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany--have consistently asserted that the JCPOA is succeeding in its core objectives and that its implementation should not be jeopardized.

This report describes United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) acquisition authorities for unclassified acquisition programs and compares these authorities to those granted to the military departments. It also compares the military departments' and SOCOM's chains of command, describes the scope of acquisition activity and program oversight, and explores whether SOCOM has unique characteristics that influence how it conducts acquisition.

This report looks at the background and current status of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which was formed to increase international cooperation in interdicting shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

This report discusses the announcement by the United States and European Union (EU) that they are at a "new phase" in their relationship for "freer, fairer, and more reciprocal trade." The announcement came on July 25, 2018 at a challenging time for transatlantic trade relations.

This report discusses the issue of hazing as an initiation custom in the Armed Forces. Congress has oversight of this issue under Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution; this report outlines the context of this issue and recent actions taken to counteract it to help Congress decide whether or not to address hazing in the military through oversight and legislation.

This report discusses Iran's foreign and defense policy and the reasoning behind it, as well as U.S. concerns regarding their power and nuclear weapon capability.

This report examines Member adoption of social media platforms outside of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, such as Instagram, Flickr, and Google+, which have each been adopted by at least 2.5% of Representatives and Senators. It discusses the possible implications of the adoption of social media, including managing multiple platforms, the type of content and posting location, the allocation of office resources to social media communications, and archiving social media content.

This report discusses the ongoing political, economic, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela under President Nicolás Maduro and U.S. responses.

This report discusses the U.S. Department of Defense 30-year aviation plan released in April 2018. The yearly plan is intended to chart the direction of the aviation enterprise and is typically relatively short on specifics. By contrast, the most recent 30-year aviation plan is full of details on specific programs, including cancellations, life extensions, and new starts.

This report discusses President Trump's FY2019 budget request for the Department of Energy (DOE) and it compares it with past budgets.

This report provides a brief summary of each of the provisions included in Division E (the ACCESS Act) of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, along with the contact information for the CRS expert who can answer questions about each provision. Division E consists of 12 titles. Each title is addressed in a separate table, and the provisions are discussed in the order they appear in the law. Topics discussed in this report include Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), public health, child and family services, foster care, social impact partnerships, child support enforcement, and prison data reporting. Subsequent CRS reports examining selected subsets of these provisions will be linked to this report as they become available.

This report discusses family based immigration law and policy and arguments for expanding or restricting family-based immigration numbers.

This report describes the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program's structure and operations, focusing on SBIC eligibility requirements, investment activity, and program statistics. It also includes information concerning the SBIC program's debenture SBIC program, participating securities SBIC program, impact investment SBIC debenture program (targeting underserved markets and communities facing barriers to access to credit and capital), and the now-sunset early stage debenture SBIC initiative.

This report discusses the Department of Veterans Affairs FY2018 appropriation and the legislative budget process.

This report discusses the Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program and outlines its basic functions, procurement plans, and funding requests for FY2019.

This report discusses the enforcement of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and various penalties available for violations.

This report discusses Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and legal interpretations regarding whether it covers sexual harassment in the workplace and if so what types of employer actions are permissible or impermissible under the law.