Search Results

open access

Presidential Directives: Background and Overview

Description: This report provides an overview of the different kinds of directives that have primarily been utilized by twentieth-century Presidents. It includes background on the historical development, accounting, use, and effect of such directives.
Date: January 7, 2005
Creator: Relyea, Harold C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Recess Judges

Description: This report discusses the recess clause and takes a look at the history of recess appointments. Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is empowered "to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session." Presidents have used the recess appointment power on more than 300 occasions to place judges on the district, appellate, and U.S. Supreme Court level. This practice slowed after the 195… more
Date: February 2, 2005
Creator: Fisher, Louis
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Speed of Presidential and Senate Actions on Supreme Court Nominations, 1900-2005

Description: This report provides information on the amount of time taken to act on all Supreme Court nominations occurring between 1900 and the present. It focuses on the actual amounts of time that Presidents and the Senate have taken to act (as opposed to the elapsed time between official points in the process).
Date: November 7, 2005
Creator: Garrett, R. Sam; Rutkus, Denis Steven & Copeland, Curtis W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

An Overview of the Impeachment Process

Description: The Constitution sets forth the general principles which control the procedural aspects of impeachment, vesting the power to impeach in the House of Representatives, while imbuing the Senate with the power to try impeachments. Both the Senate and the House have designed procedures to implement these general principles in dealing with a wide range of impeachment issues. This report provides a brief overview of the impeachment process, reflecting the roles of both the House and the Senate during … more
Date: April 20, 2005
Creator: Halstead, T. J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005

Description: This report discusses the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act which was signed into law by President Bush on September 23, 2005. It primarily contains temporary tax relief intended to directly and indirectly assist individuals in recovering from Hurricane Katrina. The provisions cover a variety of areas, including work credits, charitable giving, and casualty losses.
Date: October 24, 2005
Creator: Lunder, Erika
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Agriculture in the U.S.-Dominican RepublicCentral American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)

Description: This report considers the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Specifically, the report explores sugar imports, phasing out tariffs and quotas, and how the U.S. can protect the market from an overflow of imported products.
Date: June 24, 2005
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Office of Management and Budget: A Brief Overview

Description: This report provides a concise overview of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and its major functions, and highlights a number of issues influenced by OMB in matters of policy, budget, management, and OMB's internal operations.
Date: February 14, 2005
Creator: Brass, Clinton T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Agriculture in the U.S.-Dominican RepublicCentral American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)

Description: This report considers the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Specifically, the report explores sugar imports, phasing out tariffs and quotas, and how the U.S. can protect the market from an overflow of imported products.
Date: July 22, 2005
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Agriculture in the U.S.-Dominican RepublicCentral American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)

Description: This report considers the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Specifically, the report explores sugar imports, phasing out tariffs and quotas, and how the U.S. can protect the market from an overflow of imported products.
Date: December 22, 2005
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Electoral College: Reform Proposals in the 108th Congress

Description: American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system. Despite occasional close elections, this system has delivered uncontested results in 46 of 50 elections since adoption of the 12th Amendment, effective in 1804. Throughout this period, nevertheless, it has been the subject of persistent criticism and many reform proposals… more
Date: June 30, 2005
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Electoral College: Reform Proposals in the 108th Congress

Description: American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system. Despite occasional close elections, this system has delivered uncontested results in 46 of 50 elections since adoption of the 12th Amendment, effective in 1804. Throughout this period, nevertheless, it has been the subject of persistent criticism and many reform proposals… more
Date: June 30, 2005
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Electoral College: Reform Proposals in the 108th Congress

Description: American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system. Despite occasional close elections, this system has delivered uncontested results in 46 of 50 elections since adoption of the 12th Amendment, effective in 1804. Throughout this period, nevertheless, it has been the subject of persistent criticism and many reform proposals… more
Date: June 30, 2005
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals

Description: In recent years conflicting budget priorities and divided political control have accentuated the institutional tensions between the executive and legislative branches inherent in the federal budget process. President Bush, like his recent predecessors, has called for an item veto, or possibly expanded impoundment authority, to provide him with greater control over federal spending. This report provides a brief history of impoundment and discusses the debate surrounding the line item veto.
Date: September 26, 2005
Creator: McMurtry, Virginia A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Davis-Bacon Act: Suspension

Description: The Davis-Bacon Act is one of several statutes that deals with federal government procurement. Enacted in 1931, Davis-Bacon requires, inter alia, that not less than the locally prevailing wage be paid to workers engaged in federal contract construction. This report reviews the several cases during which the Davis-Bacon Act was suspended and will likely be updated as developments make necessary.
Date: September 26, 2005
Creator: Whittaker, William G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Item Veto: Budgetary Savings

Description: Congressional interest in an item veto for the President may resurface during the 109th Congress. At a news conference on November 4, 2004, President George W. Bush expressed an interest in receiving item-veto authority “to maintain budget discipline.”
Date: May 26, 2005
Creator: Fisher, Louis
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Davis-Bacon Suspension and Its Legislative Aftermath

Description: During the last week of August 2005, Hurricane Katrina gathered strength in the Atlantic and moved against the gulf states. On September 8, 2005, amid the devastation left in Katrina’s wake, President George W. Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act as it applies to certain jurisdictions in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Although the President has the authority, under Section 6 of the Act, to render such suspensions during a national emergency, that authority has rarely been utilized… more
Date: October 3, 2005
Creator: Whittaker, William G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen