news report
Aggravated Identity-Theft Cases Fell 8% Over Four Years
Sentencing Commission data show 561 federal cases in fiscal 2025 involved the mandatory consecutive identity-theft statute, with an average sentence of 54 months.
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Washington, D.C.
news report
Amanda Pascali Plays Free Library of Congress Concert Aug. 13
The Artist in Resonance performance marks the American Folklife Center’s 50th anniversary with Mediterranean, Balkan, Latin, folk and Americana influences.
news report
CBO Finds 2027 Budget Shifts Trillions From Nondefense to Defense
Over 2027 through 2036, the request would add $2.4 trillion in defense discretionary outlays and cut $2.6 trillion in nondefense discretionary spending.
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CBO Doubts a One-Time Wealth Tax Could Secure Social Security for 75 Years
The agency compared a $30.3 trillion projected OASI shortfall with $55 trillion in top-1% wealth, warning that design and behavior would sharply reduce collections.
explainer
DEA Could Put Concentrated 7-OH in Schedule I Within Days. Here’s What the Record Shows
The action is not yet in force and does not formally cover ordinary kratom leaf below the proposed threshold. The evidence shows real opioid risks, major data gaps and a narrow public process that closed after July 31.
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Defense Materials Waivers Tighten in 2027
A July executive order says most waivers under a defense sourcing law must stop in 2027 unless contractors submit an accepted mitigation plan.
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Justice Department Inventory Identifies 62 Criminal Regulatory Offenses
The department also set out four factors prosecutors should generally weigh when regulatory violations can carry criminal penalties.
executive action
DOT AI Infrastructure Plan Targets Predictive Maintenance and Faster Construction
The federal effort is intended to use artificial intelligence in transportation design, maintenance and network operations, but the announcement sets goals rather than project budgets.
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Education Department Removes Title VI Disparate-Impact Rules
The department says its civil-rights office will focus Title VI enforcement on intentional discrimination while retaining a complaint process.
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Banks Tightened Credit-Card Standards as Mortgage and Auto Demand Weakened
The Federal Reserve’s July survey found stable business-loan standards but tighter consumer credit and historically restrictive conditions across most household categories.
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Federal Deficit Reached $1.8 Trillion Through July, CBO Estimates
The shortfall for the first 10 months of fiscal 2026 was $169 billion larger than a year earlier as outlays grew faster than revenues.
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Federal Excise Taxes Raised $106 Billion, Mostly From Four Sources
CBO says highway, aviation, tobacco and alcohol, and stock-buyback taxes produced 88% of 2025 receipts.
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Smithsonian's ‘From These Lands’ Opens With 600 Objects
The 5,000-square-foot Natural History Museum show represents every state, D.C. and five inhabited U.S. territories through December 2029.
news report
RentGrow to Pay $2.25 Million to Settle FTC Tenant-Screening Allegations
The proposed order targets duplicate criminal or eviction records, incomplete source disclosures and failures in the consumer-dispute process.
news report
Four Agencies Lack Required Lessons-Learned Systems for AI Purchases, GAO Says
GAO reviewed 13 acquisitions and found that Defense, DHS, GSA and Veterans Affairs did not systematically collect lessons that could improve future contract terms, testing and pricing.
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GAO Says AI-Written Tax Comments Could Overwhelm Treasury Review
The audit covers 467 proposed and final regulations and finds no policy for mass AI-assisted submissions, limited virtual hearings and gaps in documenting public input.
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GAO Finds Open Federal Efficiency Actions Could Save $100 Billion
The watchdog’s 16-year scorecard credits past congressional and agency action with $774.3 billion in benefits while tracking 610 unfinished items.
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GAO Sets a Three-Step Test for Whether Federal Programs Work
The watchdog says agencies need measurable goals, relevant data and routine use of results to judge programs that collectively spend trillions of dollars each year.
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Four Agencies Have Not Fully Met New Strategic-Review Rules, GAO Says
OMB guidance omitted four leadership and stakeholder requirements, and none of the selected agencies had fully implemented the 2024 law.
news report
GAO Says Financial Regulators Are Still Building Joint Data Standards
The Financial Data Transparency Act could reduce duplicate reporting, but agencies must first finish shared standards, modernize systems and write their own implementation rules.
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GAO Flags 11 Priority Recommendations Still Open at GSA
The watchdog says real-property planning, shared-service data and federal-award oversight could unlock tens of millions in savings and improve controls over hundreds of millions in annual spending.
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GAO Leaves OPM With Eight Priority Recommendations for 2026
The watchdog says stronger eligibility checks could prevent up to $1 billion a year in health-benefit improper payments, alongside IT and workforce reforms.
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OPM Lost 35% of Its Workforce in 15 Months, GAO Found
More than half of departing employees had at least 11 years of service. The watchdog says missing agency records prevent a complete assessment of the reorganization.
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GAO Leaves Treasury With 28 Priority Recommendations for 2026
Treasury closed four priority items since August 2025, but auditors still flag improper payments, cybersecurity and federal financial management.
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Pentagon Weapon Programs Now Average More Than 12 Years to Deliver
GAO’s annual review finds that programs on the five-year rapid pathway often begin with immature technology, while major milestones continue to slip.
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Hirshhorn’s “50 for 50” Will Send American Art to 51 Museums
One institution in every state and Puerto Rico will receive free three- to five-year loans selected to connect with its own collection and local audience.
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Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Reopens Oct. 31 With 50% More Art
The Smithsonian says the redesigned National Mall garden will display 24 major works from Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s foundational gift.
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CBO Says H.R. 143 Would Change Budget Rules, Not Spending Immediately
The bill would reduce budget-resolution levels for long-unauthorized programs, but CBO says appropriations decisions still control actual spending.
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Library of Congress Trained 90 Educators to Teach With Primary Sources
The three summer institutes selected participants from nearly 200 applicants across 21 states and the District of Columbia.
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Library of Congress Opens Gil Evans Archive With 160 Unrecorded Scores
The complete manuscript collection spans four decades of the jazz orchestrator's work and includes hundreds of scores, lead sheets and instrumental parts.
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Library of Congress K-Pop Night: Aug. 6 Events, Times and Tickets
The free Thursday-evening program begins Aug. 6 with K-pop activities, trivia and an outdoor screening of “Apollo 13.”
explainer
Inside the Library of Congress's 4,000-Square-Foot Research Lab for Kids
The 4,000-square-foot Source gallery uses an animated card catalog, staff videos and a digital collection book to teach primary-source research to visitors ages 8 to 15.
news report
Air and Space Museum Opens 5 Galleries for Its 50th Anniversary
The July reopening covers flight science, space technology, military aviation and art; two final renovated galleries are due this fall.
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National Archives Opens Pelé Exhibit With Ball Signed in 1975
“The Beautiful Game” centers on the ball Pelé gave President Gerald Ford during a Rose Garden visit with the New York Cosmos.
news report
2026 National Book Festival: Authors, Tickets and Schedule
The free Aug. 22 event in Washington features more than 80 authors, expanded film and music programs and a first-time ticket requirement for entry.
news report
The National Book Festival Is Adding Film, Music and a First-Time Ticket Rule
More than 80 authors are due in Washington on Aug. 22. Admission remains free, but visitors now need an entry ticket; only the Main Stage is promised live online.
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National Gallery Mining Film Series Ends With Three Free Screenings
The Washington program closes Aug. 15–16 with Harlan County, USA, The Miners' Hymns and Louisiana Story; advance registration is required.
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Division I Teams Can Now Add Commercial Patches to Uniforms
An NCAA rule effective August 1 permits two added logos on uniforms and apparel, one on equipment and another for conference championships outside NCAA postseason play.
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SBA Ends Group-Based 8(a) Presumption
Beginning Sept. 10, pending individually owned applicants must establish social disadvantage without the former rebuttable presumption; already certified participants are not required to requalify.
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SEC Proposal Would Make Investor E-Delivery the Default
Regulation E-Delivery would allow electronic delivery without prior affirmative consent while preserving paper on request.
news report
Smithsonian Extends “American Aspirations” Exhibition Through Aug. 10
The 30-object show at the Castle now runs through the institution’s 180th anniversary, with artifacts spanning the founding era, aviation, space and computing.
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Three Bronze Bison Anchor Smithsonian’s Yearlong National Mall Program
The sculptures and two exhibitions connect the species’ near-extinction, Indigenous relationships, conservation history and ecological role.
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Smithsonian STEM Gift Targets 40 Communities and 24 Schools
A $2.3 million Caterpillar Foundation donation will fund teacher training, hands-on resources and an AI learning guide across 21 states over three years.
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Smithsonian’s ‘In Pursuit’ Exhibition Spans 250 Objects and Three Floors
The National Museum of American History has turned 250,000 square feet into a yearlong exploration of life, liberty and happiness.
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Smithsonian Will Bring 26 Louvre Islamic Artworks to Washington
The Louvre loans span 12 centuries and include the Baptistery of Saint Louis, Mughal pen cases and the Lion of Monzón for the exhibition’s only U.S. stop.
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Smithsonian Program Will Mark Princess Grace's Legacy With Four Swan Benches
The Sept. 1 event pairs a cultural-history program with permanent National Mall tributes during anniversaries of her royal marriage and Monaco's U.S. embassy.
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Smithsonian Opens Japanese-Language Catalog for 2,200 Rare-Book Volumes
The searchable Pulverer Collection resource removes an English-only barrier for researchers studying more than 900 Japanese illustrated-book titles.
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Smithsonian and TOPPAN Plan Virtual Peacock Room for Early 2027
The partnership will add animation and historical audio while expanding digital access to a collection whose founding objects cannot travel.
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Smithsonian’s ‘Voices and Votes’ Democracy Exhibit Runs Through Sept. 7
The Arts and Industries Building show brings a traveling civic-history exhibition back to Washington after stops in small communities across 25 states.
news report
State’s Overseas Housing Standards Have Not Changed in 35 Years
GAO says the department may be paying for larger homes than necessary because its space limits and measurement method no longer match the Washington-area benchmark.
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USITC Seeks Comment on Wi-Fi Import Relief
An administrative judge recommended limited exclusion and cease-and-desist orders after an initial patent finding; the commission has not issued a final remedy.
news report
DOT Adds $24 Million to Shape Union Station Partnership
The new funding is for a public-private delivery plan, separate from $466 million announced for structural and passenger upgrades.
document report
World Bank’s 2026–31 China Strategy Centers Jobs, Aging and Infrastructure
The proposed framework shifts the relationship toward knowledge sharing and targeted financing, with priorities covering jobs, aging and resilient infrastructure.
news report
Three Yoshitomo Nara Sculptures Will Open the Hirshhorn’s New West Lawn Series
The garden is scheduled to reopen Oct. 31 with monumental heads enlarged from hand-shaped clay studies. A different artist will follow each year.