Congressional Research Reports Site Goes Live – Are There Too Many Shortcomings?

What’s the story?

• Known as “Congress’ think tank,” the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issues or updates over 3000 reports each year, written by lawyers, economists, and social & physical scientists.
• Now, for the first time, Americans can access the research here.
• But as Roll Call explained, the new website is already drawing criticism:

“Of the 627 reports available on the site, there are no reports from before January 2018. That is not a comprehensive collection of so-called active reports, defined as ‘current and relative to the legislative agenda.’”

What does CRS do?

• A legislative branch within the Library of Congress, CRS "works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation," their website explains. 

 “CRS is well-known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective and nonpartisan.”

• Reports in recent years have focused on Cuba, immigration, the Islamic State and the Affordable Care Act.

What are both sides saying about the new site?

• “Moving forward, all new or updated reports will be added to the website as they are made available to Congress. The Library is also working to make available the back catalog of previously published reports as expeditiously as possible,” Library of Congress spokesperson Gayle Osterberg wrote in a blog post.
• Daniel Schuman, policy director at Demand Progress Action, is underwhelmed with the site. The former CRS lawyer outlined his criticism in a series of tweets, including:

What do you think?

Is the CRS fulfilling the law with its new site? Or do you want them doing a better job? Hit Take Action and tell your reps.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia / Creative Commons)