WASHINGTON, May 20 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF13229) by American national government specialist Garrett Hatch: * * * Executive Order 14395, "Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud" Background Fraud, the act of obtaining something of value through willful misrepresentation, is a growing concern for the federal government. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, convictions for government benefits fraud increase  more

WASHINGTON, May 22 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11070) by social policy analyst Patrick A. Landers: * * * John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood Children are removed from families and placed into foster care due to incidents of abuse, neglect, or other family crisis. On September 30, 2025, more than 102,000 young people aged 14 or older were in foster care. More than 15,000 young people eman  more

WASHINGTON, May 22 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R44027) entitled "Tracking Federal Awards: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources" by senior research librarian Jennifer Teefy. Here are excerpts: * * * Summary USAspending.gov, available at http://www.USAspending.gov, is a government source for data on federal awards by state, congressional district (CD), county, city, and zip code. The awards data in USAspending.gov are provided by federal a  more

WASHINGTON, May 21 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R42504) entitled "VA Home Loan Programs:" (Continued from Part 1 of 3) * * * Requirements for Appraisals and Closing Costs Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-308) P.L. 117-308, enacted on January 27, 2022, directed VA to "prescribe updated regulations or program requirements to clarify when an appraisal is required, how an appraisal is to be conducted, and who  more