The 111th Congress to date has been one of the busiest in years, maybe decades. The Democratically-controlled Congress has had to confront the recession and the financial crisis, passing the massive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February in an attempt to stop the downward economic spiral. Subsequently they have taken on major initiatives to regulate the financial industry, reform the health care system, and combat global climate change. As we approach the August recess, those efforts are works in progress. Here we focus on the meat and potatoes on Congress’s plate: defense legislation, annual budget bills, and federal worker issues. We also take a peak at how the electoral landscape is shaping up for the midterms in 2010.

Congress and the Intelligence Community