This report discusses U.S. immigration law as it relates to the Trump Administration's zero tolerance policy to criminally prosecute migrants who unlawfully enter the United States at the southern border; a policy which has led to the separation of children from parents awaiting prosecution for unlawful entry.

This report discusses the Iran nuclear agreement that was made on July 14, 2015 and the lifting of sanctions related to their nuclear weapons programs which occurred on January 16, 2016. It also outlines Iran's obligations under the agreement and Congressional discussion of adjustments to the agreement or withdrawal.

This report discusses the Trump Administration's decision to proceed with a Section 301 case against China's intellectual property rights (IPR) policies and their intent to impose 25% ad valorem tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese products. It also looks at past use of Section 301 against China.

This report highlights many of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's judicial opinions that have received the greatest degree of attention from legal observers. Judge Kavanaugh, whom President Trump has nominated to fill the impending Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's retirement from the Court, has amassed a voluminous record of judicial writings during his legal career. These writings are certain to be a key topic of interest as the Senate prepares to hold hearings and a possible vote on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination to the High Court.

This report discusses obligations of Internet companies under both federal and state law. It also discusses several factors Congress might consider when weighing future legislation.

This report monitors the National Popular Vote's (NPV) progress in the states. It includes sections that provide brief background on the electoral college, history of the National Popular Vote concept, more detail on the NPV initiative, pros and cons for the NPV, legal issues, and concluding observations.

"This memorandum provides a brief summary and some preliminary analysis of the Donald J. Trump Administration's recent proposals to restructure and reform agencies, programs, and operations in the executive branch. Specifically, the memorandum covers the 32 proposals characterized by the Trump Administration as "Government-wide." The 32 proposals include several sub-proposals, which, when enumerated separately as they are in this memorandum, bring the total to 35. The analysis of each proposal includes, to the extent possible, a discussion of statutes that might be involved in the proposed changes, and whether some changes might be achieved through administrative action" (p. 1).

This report discusses the history of U.S. Secret Service (USSS), specific protection activities, and USSS protection issues.

This report discusses the possibility of protective details for executive branch officials, in response to recent attempted bombing attacks on current and former government officials.

This report summarizes congressional authorization legislation for U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) water resource development projects, the standard project delivery process, authorities for alternative water resource project delivery, and other USACE authorities.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) is the subject of legislation being considered in the 115th Congress. This report analyzes Fed bills that have seen committee or floor action and the policy debate surrounding them. The bills contain wide-ranging changes that can be grouped into five broad categories: Fed governance, oversight and disclosure, monetary policy rules (the Taylor Rule), the Fed's emergency lending powers, and the Fed's balance sheet.

This report discusses Congressional gold medals which are awarded by Congress for distinguished contributions to the United States. It describes the history, selection process, award designs and production process, and issues for Congress.

This report provides definitions of clandestine versus covert intelligence activities and discusses what agencies are authorized to undertake which types of intelligence. It also covers military intelligence terms that are different than ones used by civilian government activities.

This report discusses the the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies's fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill. It firsts presents a brief overview of the major agencies in the annual Interior appropriations bill. It then describes the appropriations requested by President Trump for FY2018. It next compares the FY2018 funding levels requested by the President, passed by the House, and contained in the Senate chairmen's draft with each other and with FY2017 appropriations. Finally, it summarizes the current status, including the government shutdown due to a lapse in continuing appropriations (provided through January 19, 2018).

This report describes the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) calculation used to reimburse states for most Medicaid expenditures, and it lists the statutory exceptions to the regular FMAP rate.

This report discusses government research and development funding (R&D) for FY2018. It begins with a discussion of the overall level of President Trump's FY2018 R&D request, followed by analyses of the R&D funding request from a variety of perspectives and for selected multiagency R&D initiatives. The report concludes with discussion and analysis of the R&D budget requests of selected federal departments and agencies that, collectively, account for nearly 99% of total federal R&D funding.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on China's naval modernization effort and its implications for U.S. Navy capabilities. For an overview of the strategic and budgetary context in which China's naval modernization effort and its implications for U.S. Navy capabilities may be considered, see Appendix A.

This report describes the current status of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between Russia and the United States and highlights issues that Congress may address as the United States pursues its compliance concerns with Russia. It begins with a historical overview that describes the role of intermediate-range nuclear weapons in NATO's security construct in the late 1970s and the political and security considerations that affected the negotiation of the INF Treaty. In addition, the report summarizes the provisions of the INF Treaty, highlighting those central to the discussion about Russia's current activities. It then reviews the publicly available information about the potential Russian violation and Russia's possible motivations for pursuing the development of a noncompliant missile. Next, the report summarizes Russia's concerns with U.S. compliance with the treaty. The report concludes with a discussion of options that the United States might pursue to address its concerns with Russia's activities and options that it might pursue if Russia deploys new INF-range missiles.

This report discusses the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund which assists CDFI's which are business that provide financial products and services.

This report discusses supplemental appropriations for 2017 disaster relief and recovery and provides a detailed breakdown of the requested, enacted, and proposed supplemental funding in each of these measures, and provides a contact listing for CRS experts on the funded relief and recovery programs.

This report provides an overview of the U.S. foreign assistance program by answering frequently asked questions on the subject. It is intended to provide a broad view of foreign assistance over time, and will be updated periodically.

This report discusses federal prize competitions, which are a tool for incentivizing the achievement of scientific and technological innovation by offering monetary and non-monetary benefits (e.g., recognition) to competition participants. Prize competitions have a long history of use in both the public and private sectors, but have gained popularity in recent years. This report describes the background and current trends of federal prize competitions, potential policy considerations, and legislation in the 115th Congress.

This report discusses the EPA's proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. As part of the ACE Rule, EPA proposed a new test for determining whether New Source Review (NSR) would apply to a modification of an existing power plant.

This report provides background on issues affecting the Arctic region on a large number of topics including research, policy, and governance of the region. It also outlines specific issues for Congressional consideration such as transportation, pollution, affects on people and animals, and geopolitical concerns.