Weekly Roundup Archive: WR 2/3/24

2/5 - U.S. Department of Education Deploys Federal Personnel, Funding, and Resources to Support Colleges, Students, and Families with Better FAFSA® (ED)

2/5 - Announcement of a Visa Restriction Policy to Promote Accountability for the Misuse of Commercial Spyware (State)

2/6 - DIA report confirms the Huthis’ [sic] use of Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct attacks across the Middle East (DIA; direct to report)

2/6 - FCC Demands Entity Behind Robocalls in New Hampshire to Stop Illegal Effort to Target Voters (FCC)

2/6 - FTC Submits Comment on March-In Rights to Promote Efforts to Lower Drug Prices (FTC; see also, 2/1/24 CRS report)

2/6 - HHS Releases the National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in People (HHS; direct to website)

2/6 - NTSB Issues Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Preliminary Report (NTSB)

2/6 - Fact Sheet: The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Black Americans and Communities Across the Country (WH)

2/7 - CISA Launches #Protect2024 Resources Webpage for State and Local Election Officials (CISA; direct to website)

2/7 - U.S. Department of Energy and FEMA Study Finds Puerto Rico Can Achieve 100% Renewable Energy Future By 2050 (DOE; direct to report page)

2/7 - EPA finalizes stronger standards for harmful soot pollution, significantly increasing health and clean air protections for families, workers, and communities (EPA; direct to info page)

2/7 - Preliminary analysis says global warming more to blame than El Niño for Amazon’s ongoing record drought (NOAA; see also, referenced World Weather Attribution report)

2/7 - NSA and Partners Spotlight People’s Republic of China Targeting of U.S. Critical Infrastructure (NSA; direct to advisory)

2/7 - Treasury Publishes 2024 National Risk Assessments for Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing (Treas, with links to 3 reports)

2/7 - Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the 2024 Farm Sector Income Forecast (USDA; direct to report page)

2/8 - Census Bureau Releases Nonemployer Business Data by Demographic Characteristics of Owners (Census; direct to data page)

2/9 - BTS Updates Datasets to National Transportation Atlas Database (BTS; direct to website)

2/9 - As Nationwide Fraud Losses Top $10 Billion in 2023, FTC Steps Up Efforts to Protect the Public (FTC; direct to data page)

2/9 - Completing an Unprecedented 10 Million Immigration Cases in Fiscal Year 2023, USCIS Reduced Its Backlog for the First Time in Over a Decade (USCIS)

2/9 - Federal agencies commit to continue a crucial collaborative bat monitoring program (USGS; direct to website)

Information below is from congress.gov. Date listed is date signed into law, and the description is an abbreviated version of bill summary available on that website.

2/6 - S.3427, Overtime Pay for Protective Services Act of 2023 - extends through 2028 and modifies the authority to provide premium pay for protective services employees of the U.S. Secret Service that exceeds certain statutory limits on premium pay; also requires the Secret Service to provide related information to Congress

2/9 - H.R.1568, Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act - requires CBP ensures any personally identifiable information is removed from cargo manifests before disclosing them to the public (via WH)

2/5 - New FOIA section added to OIG website (DOJ)

2/5 - The Social Security Administration’s Enforcement of the Earnings Test (SSA)

2/7 - Independent Evaluation of the 2020 Decennial Census Evaluation and Experiments Operation (DOC)

2/7 - Evaluation of the DoD's Implementation of the NATO Policy on Preventing and Responding to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (DOD)

2/7 - Information Brief: USAID's Assistance to Address Global Food Security Impacted by Russia's War Against Ukraine (USAID)

2/8 - Assessment of Processes to Grant Access to Sensitive Systems and to Safeguard Federal Tax Information (TIGTA)

2/8 - Noncompliance with Contractor Employee Vetting Requirements Exposes VA to Risk (VA)

2/6 - Iraq: Attacks and U.S. Strikes Reopen Discussion of U.S. Military Presence (CRS)

2/6 - Bureau of Prisons: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Restrictive Housing Practices (GAO; see also, Senate Judiciary chair statement)

2/7 - The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034 (CBO)

2/7 - Global Trends in Democracy and Authoritarianism: Challenges to Press Freedom (CRS)

2/7 - Homelessness: Barriers to Obtaining ID and Assistance Provided to Help Gain Access (GAO)

2/7 - Department of Homeland Security: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Joint Task Forces (GAO)

2/6 - IRS expects to collect hundreds of billions more in overdue and unpaid taxes thanks to new funding (via AP; see also, Treas press release with link to report and WH/CEA blog post)

2/6 - House Republicans Fail To Impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (via HuffPost)

2/6 - National Archives tees up new rules for UFO records (via NextGov; see also, NARA announcement)

2/6 - The Census Bureau is dropping a controversial proposal to change disability statistics (via NPR, with link to source document)

2/7- DHS, FBI could search hacked networks under 'problematic' proposal (via Defense One, with link to source document)

2/7 - Biden classified document probe ends without charges (via Politico, with source document; see also, final report | president’s statement | president’s 2/8 video remarks)

2/7 - Mexico Overtakes China as Leading Source of Goods Imported to US (via VOA; see also, BEA release)

2/8 - Wyden Urges President Biden to Remove Social Security Watchdog (Congress)

2/8 - AI-generated voices in robocalls can deceive voters. The FCC just made them illegal (via AP; see also, FCC announcement page)

2/8 - Supreme Court appears unlikely to kick Trump off Colorado ballot (via SCOTUSblog; see also, SCOTUS transcript of oral arguments)

See full weekly list of Congressional hearings on congress.gov.

2/6 - Federal Science Agencies and the Promise of AI in Driving Scientific Discoveries (House Science; see also, ranking members’ opening statements)

2/6 - State of American Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration (House Transport; see also, ranking members’ opening statements)

2/8 - Why Does the United States Pay, by Far, the Highest Prices in the World for Prescription Drugs? (Senate Health; see also, committee staff report and summary)