Background The Merit Systems Protection Board is an independent, quasi-judicial agency in the Executive branch that serves as the guardian of Federal merit systems. The Board was established by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978, which was codified by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA), Public Law No. 95-454. The CSRA, which became effective January 11, 1979, replaced the Civil Service Commission with three new independent agencies: Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which manages the Federal work force; Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which oversees Federal labor-management relations; and, the Board. In July of 2015, they suffered a…
Author: John Greenewald
Background The following documents is a COMMISSIONER ACTION memo, labeled SECY-79-235 from Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, dated April 2, 1979. The purpose of the action report is listed as: To advise the Commission of some decisions that will need to be made in the immediate future regarding the application of the Price Anderson Act to the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident. The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its…
Background The following is a list of documents pertaining to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), along with some useful tips, guides and handbooks distributed by the U.S. Government/Military. Documents relating to the FOIA Freedom of Information Act and the Adverse Effects on Field Operations, circa 1977 [207 Pages] GAO Report: The Freedom of Information Act: Processing Trends Show Importance of Improvement Plans, March 2007 [ 93 Pages, 3.43MB ] National Reconnaissance Office Review and Redaction Guide for Automatic Declassification of 25-Year Old Information, 2008 [ 193 Pages, 4.76MB ] Office of the Chief FOIA Officer of the U.S. Department…
Background The vast expansion of the nation’s armed forces just prior to and during World War II led to the establishment in 1940 of command and control organization for the U.S. Army which had been envisioned much earlier by military planners. Indeed, the concept actually had been enacted into law in the National Defense Act of 1920. General Headquarters (GHQ), U.S, Army, which was established in 1940, was soon troubled by conflicts between its training, responsibilities and the command and control of the ground combat troops and their supporting forces. These functions, however, were separated in 1942 when a general…
Background The 2016 United States presidential election debates were a series of debates held for the 2016 U.S. presidential general election. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan organization formed in 1987, organized three debates among the major presidential candidates. The first presidential debate for the 2016 election took place on September 26, 2016, and set the record as the most-watched debate in American history, with 84 million viewers. The only vice-presidential debate was held on October 4. The second presidential debate took place on October 9, and the final debate took place on October 19. All CPD debates…