Weekly Roundup Archive: WR 8/29/20

Note: statements concerning ongoing civil protests are being compiled on a separate guide

8/31 - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Report Examines Early Impact of Pandemic on Consumer Credit (CFPB; direct to report)

8/31 - Validating Interior’s Unprecedented Ethics Initiatives, Office of Government Ethics Program Review Contains Zero Findings or Recommendations (DOI; see also, As Trump’s Interior Department Tries Unsuccessfully to Spin Ethics Record, Natural Resources Committee Highlights Three-Plus Years of Scandals)

8/31 - EPA Finalizes Power Plant Effluent Limitation Guidelines that Save Money and Reduce Pollution (EPA; see also, Carper: EPA Coal Ash will Pollute Waterways with Toxic Heavy Metals and Jeopardize Public Health )

8/31 - USDA Extends Free Meals for Kids Through December 31, 2020 (FNS)

9/1 - DHS, USCIS to Modernize, Define the Collection of Biometrics (DHS; see also, proposed rule)

9/1 - DOD Releases 2020 Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China (DOD; direct to report)

9/1 - Secretary Bernhardt Signs Order Creating the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration (DOI)

9/1 - The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Announce Critical Reforms to Enhance Compliance, Oversight, and Accountability at the FBI (DOJ)

9/1 - Forest Service Proposes Improvements to Oil and Gas Development Regulations (FS; see also, Chair Grijalva on Forest Service Oil and Gas Deregulation Proposal: The Trump Administration is Giving Away Our Public Lands as Fast as Possible)

9/1 - 63 Million Adults Have Low Numeracy — More Than the Population of California and Texas Combined (NCES)

9/1 - The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel’s Statement on the Emergency Use Authorization of Convalescent Plasma for the Treatment of COVID-19 (NIH)

9/2 - CISA & EAC Develop Risk Profile Tool for Election Officials (EAC)

9/2 - Administrator Wheeler Concludes Tijuana River Visit and Roundtable with San Diego Local Leaders (EPA)

9/2 - Trump EPA Launches Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains to Effectively Address Abandoned Mine Lands, Accelerate Cleanup Across the West (EPA)

9/2 - Actions to Protect U.S. Personnel from Illegitimate Investigation by the International Criminal Court (State; see also,  Trump Administration Sanctions ICC Prosecutor Investigating Alleged U.S. War Crimes via NPR, with link to source document)

9/2 - USCIS Issues New Policy Guidance on Final Fee Rule (USCIS)

9/3 - U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Makes Historic Announcement on America’s Freight System (DOT)

9/3 - Aviation responsible for 3.5% of climate change, study finds (NOAA; direct to report)

9/3 - Update on U.S. Withdrawal from the World Health Organization (State; see also, briefing)

9/4 - U.S. Department of Labor Releases Work-Related Injury and Illness Data (DOL)

9/4 - Proposal Clarifies Critical Habitat Designations (FWS; see also, proposed rule)

9/4 - Release of Documents Related to the 2019 FISA Section 702 Certifications (ODNI)

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.

- none this week

8/31 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Compliance with Use of Force Policy for Incidents on November 25, 2018 and January 1, 2019 - Law Enforcement Sensitive (DHS; url changed after initial publication)

8/31 - DHS Inconsistently Implemented Administrative Forfeiture Authorities Under CAFRA (DHS; url changed after initial publication)

8/31 - Evaluation of Department of Defense Enhanced End-Use Monitoring for Equipment Transferred to the Government of Ukraine (DOD)

8/31 - Processing Readiness of Election and Political Mail During the 2020 General Elections (USPS)

9/1 - Statements Made to Congress Regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s Office Relocation (DOI)

9/2 - FAA and Its Partner Agencies Have Begun Work on the Aviation Cyber Initiative and Are Implementing Priorities (DOT)

9/2 - Tribal Health Programs: Concerns About Background Verifications for Staff Working With Indian Children (HHS)

9/2 - Sensitive Tax Records Could Not Always Be Located or Timely Provided (TIGTA)

9/3 - Five Laredo and San Antonio Area CBP Facilities Generally Complied with the National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search (DHS)

9/4 - Audit of the GSA Public Buildings Service’s Use of Construction Management Services (GSA)

Most OIG Semiannual Reports (SARs) for Spring 2020 have been released, though a few remain outstanding. If interested, you can click here to track which ones are available.

8/31 - COVID-19: Brief Update on Initial Federal Response to the Pandemic (GAO)

9/1 - FDA’s Role in the Medical Product Supply Chain and Considerations During COVID-19 (CRS)

9/2 - An Update to the Budget Outlook: 2020 to 2030 (CBO)

9/2 - The Outlook for Major Federal Trust Funds: 2020 to 2030 (CBO)

9/2 - Facial Recognition: CBP and TSA are Taking Steps to Implement Programs, but CBP Should Address Privacy and System Performance Issues (GAO)

9/3 - The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline (CRS)

9/3 - PRWORA’s Restrictions on Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Benefits: Legal Issues (CRS)

9/4 - Absentee Voting for Uniformed Services and Overseas Citizens: Roles and Process, In Brief (CRS)

8/31 - Select Subcommittee Releases Eight Weeks of Coronavirus Task Force Reports Kept Secret by the White House (Congress)

8/31 - Leading Democrats Sound Alarm on USAID 2020 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy (Congress; see also, USAID draft policy)

8/31 - Family Unit Actions Reports for Oct. 2019 – Feb. 2020 (DHS)

9/1 - Pelosi, Schiff and Visclosky Demand Ratcliffe Resume Election-Related Intelligence Briefings to Congress (Congress)

9/1 - Now in Government Food Aid Boxes: A Letter From Donald Trump (via ProPublica, with source document)

9/2 - Oversight Committee Releases New Internal Census Bureau Document Warning of Risk of “Serious Errors” (Congress)

9/2 - Thompson, Rose Demand Documents from DHS on Withheld 2020 Campaign Interference Intelligence Report, Request Watchdog Investigation (Congress)

9/2 - DHS confirms it withheld intel report on Russia denigrating Biden's health, citing "quality concerns" (via CBS News, with link to source documents)

9/2 - Court rules NSA phone snooping illegal — after 7-year delay (Courts via Politico, with link to source document)

9/3 -  Russia is 'amplifying' claims of mail-in voter fraud, intel bulletin warns (via ABC News, with source document)

9/3 - Tester & Colleagues to Defense Department: Reinstate Funding for Stars and Stripes Newspaper (Congress; see also, 9/4 Trump tweet reversing decision to cut funding)

9/4 - Reed: Trump Has Disparaged Fallen U.S. Soldiers & Gold Star Families on the Record (Congress; see also, president's remarks)

9/4 - Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration-Related Information Sharing with U.S. Census Bureau (DHS)

9/4 - DHS “Homeland Threat Assessment” 8/19/20 draft and 8/27/20 draft (via @benjaminwittes on Twitter)

9/4 - Office for Civil Rights Issues New Resource to Help Education Institutions Implement the Title IX Final Rule (ED Policy Guidance)

9/4 - White House directs federal agencies to cancel race-related training sessions it calls ‘un-American propaganda’ (via Washington Post, with source document)