Federal Independent Agencies
Here's a look at documents from federal independent agencies
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NAM Outlines a Path to Align Action with Individual and Community Health Goals
WASHINGTON, April 27 (TNSrpt) -- The National Academy of Medicine issued the following news:
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NAM Outlines a Path to Align Action with Individual and Community Health Goals
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The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today released guidance on approaches to ensure that the U.S. health system aligns with the goals, preferences, priorities, and lived experiences of the people it serves.
Authored by a multidisciplinary expert working group, the paper calls for a fundamental shift in how health care, public health, and the health science enterprise define success-moving from a system largely
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, April 27 (TNSrpt) -- The National Academy of Medicine issued the following news:
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NAM Outlines a Path to Align Action with Individual and Community Health Goals
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The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today released guidance on approaches to ensure that the U.S. health system aligns with the goals, preferences, priorities, and lived experiences of the people it serves.
Authored by a multidisciplinary expert working group, the paper calls for a fundamental shift in how health care, public health, and the health science enterprise define success-moving from a system largelyfocused on services, transactions and provider system priorities to one that is fundamentally grounded in the goals and expectations of individuals and communities.
The authors highlight a persistent misalignment across health sectors, in which individuals and communities are too often treated as passive recipients rather than active partners in shaping health decisions. The prevailing practices frequently overlook the capabilities and perspectives of the very people it is meant to serve. Reorienting health systems around individual and community goals is critical to achieving better health outcomes, strengthening communities, and making more efficient use of resources. The paper argues that meaningful engagement, shared decision making, and accountability to community-defined priorities are essential to improving health outcomes and advancing equity. With the advancement of generative AI and its potential application, new tools are developing to enhance the prospects of these needed shifts.
The discussion paper outlines key drivers of misalignment, including limited definitions of health, lack of trust, poorly aligned financial incentives, and insufficient workforce capacity. It also presents a set of actionable solutions and strategies, such as:
* Adopting a holistic, cross-sector definition of health that includes physical, mental, social, and environmental factors
* Strengthening shared decision making and accountability structures
* Investing in community-driven research and evidence generation
* Building and sustaining a workforce equipped to engage meaningfully with individuals and communities
* Harnessing generative artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to integrate multi-sector data and expand access to services, engagement opportunities, and health insights for individuals and communities
The paper emphasizes that momentum can be built through both bottom-up community-driven innovation and top-down policy and structural changes. Aligning action will require coordinated effort across sectors, alongside a shift toward what the authors describe as "caring accountability," a model rooted in relationships, trust, and mutual responsibility.
In addition to identifying challenges, the paper highlights promising models and initiatives already demonstrating how health systems can better align with community priorities, offering a roadmap for scalable, sustainable change.
This paper is the second in a series produced by the National Academy of Medicine's Commission on Investment Imperatives for a Healthy Nation. Established to reimagine a US health care system that puts people first, the Commission will release additional papers over the coming year outlining its vision for a new health system, the priorities that must be addressed, and the actions needed to turn that vision into reality. Authored by experts assembled under the charge of the National Academy of Medicine, the paper was completed with support from Healing Works Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The views presented are those of individual contributors and do not represent formal consensus positions of the sponsoring organizations, authors' organizations, the National Academy of Medicine, or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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REPORT: https://nam.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Individual-and-Community-Health-Goals_final_shrunk.pdf
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Original text here: https://nam.edu/news-and-insights/nam-outlines-a-path-to-align-action-with-individual-and-community-health-goals/
Fannie Mae Plans to Report First Quarter 2026 Financial Results on April 29, 2026
WASHINGTON, April 27 -- Fannie Mae issued the following news release:
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Fannie Mae Plans to Report First Quarter 2026 Financial Results on April 29, 2026
Company Will Host Webcast to Discuss Results
Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) plans to report its first quarter 2026 financial results on Wednesday morning, April 29, 2026, before the opening of U.S. financial markets.
Fannie Mae Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer Peter Akwaboah and Chief Financial Officer Chryssa C. Halley will discuss the company's results during a webcast at 8:00 a.m., ET, on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, April 27 -- Fannie Mae issued the following news release:
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Fannie Mae Plans to Report First Quarter 2026 Financial Results on April 29, 2026
Company Will Host Webcast to Discuss Results
Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) plans to report its first quarter 2026 financial results on Wednesday morning, April 29, 2026, before the opening of U.S. financial markets.
Fannie Mae Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer Peter Akwaboah and Chief Financial Officer Chryssa C. Halley will discuss the company's results during a webcast at 8:00 a.m., ET, on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
Prior to the webcast, the company's first quarter 2026 financial results news release, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, earnings presentation, and other supplemental information will be posted to the company's Quarterly and Annual Results webpage at fanniemae.com/financialresults. Following the webcast, a transcript will be published to the financial results webpage and will remain available for approximately one year.
WEBCAST PARTICIPATION DETAILS - Fannie Mae First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Event day and time
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
8:00 a.m. (ET)
Webcast link: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1755979&tp_key=3d51ab615d
Click on the link above to access the webcast. If you have difficulty accessing the webcast at the link above, please click the "Listen by Phone" button on the webcast player and dial the number provided.
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Original text here: https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom/fannie-mae-news/scheduled-release-first-quarter-2026-financial-results
Amtrak & the NYC Metro Area: Keeping the Empire State Moving
WASHINGTON, April 27 -- Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corp.) issued the following news:
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Amtrak & the NYC Metro Area: Keeping the Empire State Moving
New York City is the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and the cultural, entertainment and financial capital of the world.
It is also home to Moynihan Train Hall and New York Penn Station, where Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) plays a critical role connecting Boston, Washington, D.C. and the entire East Coast.
Via the busiest train station complex in the Western Hemisphere in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, customers can reach
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, April 27 -- Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corp.) issued the following news:
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Amtrak & the NYC Metro Area: Keeping the Empire State Moving
New York City is the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and the cultural, entertainment and financial capital of the world.
It is also home to Moynihan Train Hall and New York Penn Station, where Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) plays a critical role connecting Boston, Washington, D.C. and the entire East Coast.
Via the busiest train station complex in the Western Hemisphere in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, customers can reachone-third of the region's jobs and nearly one-quarter of the nation's top universities located within five miles of any NEC station.
Download Fact Sheet: https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/NYC-Fact-Sheet.pdf
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Original text here: https://media.amtrak.com/2026/04/amtrak-the-nyc-metro-area-keeping-the-empire-state-moving/
Postal Service IG: New York 3 District: Delivery Operations in the New York, NY, Area
WASHINGTON, April 25 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General issued the following audit rpeort (25-153-R26) on April 21, 2026, entitled "New York 3 District: Delivery Operations in the New York, NY, Area."
Here are excerpts:
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During the week of December 8, 2025, we performed a self-initiated audit at the Westchester Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) and four delivery units serviced by the plant. The delivery units included the Mount Vernon, New Rouchelle, White Plains, and Yonkers Main Post Offices in the New York, NY, area.
We issued individual reports for the four
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, April 25 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General issued the following audit rpeort (25-153-R26) on April 21, 2026, entitled "New York 3 District: Delivery Operations in the New York, NY, Area."
Here are excerpts:
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During the week of December 8, 2025, we performed a self-initiated audit at the Westchester Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) and four delivery units serviced by the plant. The delivery units included the Mount Vernon, New Rouchelle, White Plains, and Yonkers Main Post Offices in the New York, NY, area.
We issued individual reports for the fourdelivery units and the P&DC. We also issued another report summarizing the results of our audits at all four delivery units with specific recommendations for management to address.
The audit team identified deficiencies in six areas we reviewed affecting mail delivery and property conditions at the delivery units.
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View the original text at: https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2026-04/25-153-r26_0.pdf
Commission on International Religious Freedom Fact Sheet: Country Update - Algeria
WASHINGTON, April 25 -- U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued the following fact sheet:
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COUNTRY UPDATE: Algeria
Algeria continues to impose significant restrictions on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), negatively impacting both individuals and broader religious communities. In recent years, authorities have routinely delayed or blocked the importation of nonSunni Muslim religious materials--including Bibles, other religious literature, and educational resources--at the Port of Algiers, limiting access to religious materials for Catholic and Protestant Christians
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, April 25 -- U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued the following fact sheet:
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COUNTRY UPDATE: Algeria
Algeria continues to impose significant restrictions on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), negatively impacting both individuals and broader religious communities. In recent years, authorities have routinely delayed or blocked the importation of nonSunni Muslim religious materials--including Bibles, other religious literature, and educational resources--at the Port of Algiers, limiting access to religious materials for Catholic and Protestant Christiansas well as for Ahmadiyya Muslims and members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL). These measures coincide with ongoing legal cases targeting religious minorities and point to a broader pattern of state pressure on non-Muslim and Muslim minority communities. This publication assesses these interrelated challenges and underscores the systemic and ongoing nature of religious freedom restrictions in Algeria, with particular attention to state limitations on access to religious materials and the wider legal environment shaping FoRB in that country.
Background
Algeria's constitution names Islam as the official religion of the state (Article 2) and requires a High Islamic Council to serve directly under the presidency (Article 217). Around 98-99 percent of the population of around 43.7 million people is Muslim-- mostly Sunni, with small Ibadi, Shi'a, and Ahmadiyya communities. Non-Muslim groups--including a Christian population estimated at 100,000-300,000--Jews, Baha'is, and nonreligious individuals make up an additional small minority. Algeria formally recognizes religious freedom through its constitutional commitment to key agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, the government maintains a tightly controlled religious environment in law and practice. Ordinance 06-03 (2006) regulates non-Muslim worship, requiring state approval for places of worship while also restricting the distribution of religious materials and criminalizing non-Muslim proselytization and conversion from Islam. Penal Code provisions further criminalize blasphemy and perceived offenses against Islam, often targeting religious minorities, converts, and dissenting voices.
The government often wields its bureaucracy as a blunt instrument to stymie disfavored religious communities' efforts to comply with the law. These legal and administrative barriers combine with societal pressures to create a shrinking space for Algeria's religious minorities despite state claims that it has engaged in reform efforts.
Ongoing FoRB Violations
Bureaucratic Impacts on FoRB
Religious minorities in Algeria face both legal and customary barriers that restrict their ability to practice their religion. Authorities routinely delay or block the importation of religious materials such as Bibles and educational resources at the Port of Algiers, limiting access for Catholic, Protestant, and other religious minorities. As of April 2026, authorities held up to 6,000 Bibles in English, French, and Arabic at the Port of Algiers--most of which they intercepted upon arrival in customs in 2021. Individuals can request licenses to retrieve Bibles, but approvals of such requests are inconsistent and typically result in the release of only small quantities. For example, the Bible Society of Algiers successfully retrieved 250 Bibles after submitting a request in July 2025; since then, however, the organization has submitted five additional requests with no reply from the government commission responsible for such approvals. Sunni Islamic materials also face customs scrutiny, ostensibly in a state effort to weed out literature that may involve violent interpretations of Islam, but they do not typically involve years of confiscation and stalling.
These conditions often force individuals and communities to risk informal transport, such as carrying small quantities of materials in personal luggage, in hopes of evading these restrictions. In prior years, state authorities have used these restrictions to further their ongoing crackdown against Protestant Christians, invoking their possession of Christian literature as legal evidence of their attempts to "shake the faith of Muslims" in a series of cases in 2022 and 2023. There have been no reports of more recent arrests, likely due to heightened fear among Christian communities--most of whom now operate in secret amid the persistent closure of nearly every Evangelical Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) church in the country.
There are no widely reported cases of authorities holding Shi'a or Ahmadiyya Muslim materials en masse at the Port of Algiers, although regulations reportedly restrict the importation of their materials and authorities have indeed confiscated Ahmadiyya publications in past enforcement actions. Ibadi Muslims, who have a longstanding historical presence in Algeria, do not face the same level of restriction regarding their religious materials. Notably, Algeria recently formalized smallscale "micro-importation," which permits the import of goods valued at less than 1.8 million dinars ($13,532), but it failed to extend this authorization to individuals seeking to import religious materials.
Recent Updates of FoRB Cases Government enforcement of restrictive laws like Ordinance 06-03 and blasphemy provisions has led to prosecutions and sentences targeting individuals for unauthorized worship, distribution of religious materials, or perceived criticism of Islam. There has been no significant progress in individual cases involving Algerian Protestants, as many previously documented cases remain unresolved or simply stalled within the judicial system. The government also has a notable track record of applying travel bans to religious dissidents, such as preventing Christian Amazigh activist Slimane Bouhafs-- chair of the St. Augustine Coordination of Christians in Algeria--from leaving the country in March, nearly five years after abducting him from Tunisia, where he held refugee status, and subsequently jailing him for three years for his activism.
However, this broader climate of repression and intimidation has increasingly applied to the country's small population of AROPL followers. In November 2025, the Algerian National Gendarmerie in Oum El Bouaghi summoned Marwan Melouk, an AROPL follower and convert from Sunni Islam, and required him to appear before judicial authorities for sharing his beliefs through social media platforms. Prior to his arrest, Melouk received voluntary financial assistance from fellow AROPL members during a period of personal hardship--support that authorities later characterized as illegal donation collection without prior authorization. Melouk's summoning led to interrogation that reportedly focused on his religious beliefs and ties to other AROPL followers. Authorities subsequently charged him with collecting donations without authorization and money laundering within an organized criminal group under Article 389 bis (2) of the Penal Code and Articles 1 and 8 of the Law on the Collection of Donations. His arrest has heightened fear among the AROPL adherents, particularly as police have also questioned some individuals who had provided him with financial support and reportedly pressured them to renounce their religious affiliation. Melouk remained in pretrial detention as of April 2026.
Wider Repression Undermining Religious Freedom
Beyond explicitly religious-centric laws, broader restrictions on civic space in Algeria significantly undermine FoRB in practice. Since the 2019 Hirak protest movement, authorities have carried out a sustained crackdown on freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, arbitrarily detaining activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. These measures disproportionately affect religious and ethnic minority individuals, including Christian and Amazigh activists who face surveillance, prosecution, and travel bans that restrict their ability to organize, advocate, or engage with international networks.
Administrative and security measures further compound these constraints. Authorities have imposed arbitrary travel bans without due process and prosecuted individuals under broadly defined charges such as "undermining national unity." At the same time, restrictions on civil society space hinder religious communities' ability to operate, access legal protections, and challenge discriminatory practices. Together, these dynamics create an environment in which FoRB is curtailed not only by targeted laws but also through the repression of the broader rights--expression, association, and movement-- on which meaningful religious practice depend.
Conclusion
Algeria's legal and administrative framework, combined with social and customary pressures, has created a tightly controlled environment that limits religious freedom. From the routine detention of Christian religious materials at the Port of Algiers to prosecutions of converts and restrictions on places of worship, non-Muslim and Muslim minority communities face persistent and systemic barriers to practicing their religion. In its 2026 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that Algeria be placed on the U.S. Department of State's Special Watch List (SWL).
Professional Staff
Michael Ardovino, Policy Analyst
Gretchen Birkle, Senior Advisor
Susan Bishai, Supervisory Policy Analyst
Mollie Blum, Policy Analyst
Guillermo Cantor, Director of Research and Policy
Serena Doan, Supervisory Policy Analyst
Kaylee Fisher, Public Affairs Specialist
Andrew Hamm, Victims List Database Specialist
Sema Hasan, Senior Policy Analyst
Thomas Kraemer, Chief Administrative Officer
Kirsten Lavery, Supervisory Policy Analyst and International Legal Specialist
Veronica McCarthy, Government Affairs Specialist
Hilary Miller, Policy Analyst
Nora Morton, Operations Specialist
Molly Naylor-Komyatte, Policy Analyst
Dylan Schexnaydre, Policy Analyst
Katherine Todd, Policy Analyst
Ross Tokola, Policy Analyst
Brett Warner, Administrative Specialist
Scott Weiner, Supervisory Policy Analyst
Kurt Werthmuller, Supervisory Policy Analyst
Nathan Wineinger, Chief of Public Affairs
Jean Wu, Policy Analyst
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief.
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Original text here: https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/2026%20Algeria%20Country%20Update.pdf
