Locate Government Information by Branch
Legislative Branch:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves as shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities.
CRS approaches complex topics from a variety of perspectives and examines all sides of an issue. Staff members analyze current policies and present the impact of proposed policy alternatives.
CRS services come in many forms:
reports on major policy issues
tailored confidential memoranda, briefings and consultations
seminars and workshops
expert congressional testimony
responses to individual inquiries
With public policy issues growing more complex, the need for insightful and comprehensive analysis has become vital. Congress relies on CRS to marshal interdisciplinary resources, encourage critical thinking and create innovative frameworks to help legislators form sound policies and reach decisions on a host of difficult issues. These decisions will guide and shape the nation today and for generations to come.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Reports
ABOUT CBO
10 Things to Know
Products
Processes
Transparency
Distributional Analysis
Objectivity
Organization and Staffing
Panels of Advisers
History
Work at CBO
Business Opportunities
Contact Information
Introduction to CBO
Since 1975, CBO has produced independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process. Each year, the agency’s economists and budget analysts produce dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates for proposed legislation.
CBO is strictly nonpartisan; conducts objective, impartial analysis; and hires its employees solely on the basis of professional competence without regard to political affiliation. CBO does not make policy recommendations, and each report and cost estimate summarizes the methodology underlying the analysis. Learn more about CBO's commitment to objectivity and transparency.
CBO’s work follows processes specified in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (which established the agency) or developed by the agency in concert with the House and Senate Budget Committees and the Congressional leadership.
GAO Reports
GAO, often called the "congressional watchdog,” is an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress. GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.
For example, we identified about $70.4 billion in financial benefits for the federal government in fiscal year 2023—a return of approximately $84 for every dollar invested. GAO’s average return on investment for the past 6 years is $133 to $1. We also identified 1,220 other benefits that led to program and operational improvements across the government. To learn more, read our press release about our fiscal year 2023 performance.
Executive Branch:
Executive Orders
The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. After the President signs an Executive order, the White House sends it to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR).
The OFR numbers each order consecutively as part of a series and publishes it in the daily Federal Register shortly after receipt. For a table of Executive orders that are specific to federal agency rulemaking, see the ACUS website.
This page contains documents that have been published in the Federal Register.* Because the White House cannot deliver a document to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) until after the President signs a document, there is always a delay (of at least one day, typically of several days) between when the President signs a document and when it is published. Once received, OFR gives presidential documents priority processing and documents will appear on public inspection the business day before publication. If you are looking for a recently-signed Presidential document, you may wish to check the White House website.
Executive orders signed since 1937 are available as a single bulk download and as a bulk download by President, or you can browse by President and year from the list below. More details about our APIs and other developer tools can be found on our developer pages.
Presidential Documents
This page contains documents that have been published in the Federal Register.* Because the White House cannot deliver a document to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) until after the President signs a document, there is always a delay (of at least one day, typically of several days) between when the President signs a document and when it is published. Once received, OFR gives presidential documents priority processing and documents will appear on public inspection the business day before publication. If you are looking for a recently-signed Presidential document, you may wish to check the White House website.
Budget of the U.S. Government
Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications are included, which may vary from year to year.
GPO has signed and certified the PDF files to assure users that the online documents are official and authentic. The digitally signed PDF files should be viewed using Adobe Acrobat or Reader version 7.0 or higher.
Featured Executive Branch Publications
Featured Executive Branch Publications contains select documents published by agencies and other entities in the executive branch.
Judicial Branch:
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
The term “opinions” as used on this website refers to several types of writing by the Justices.
The most well-known opinions are those released or announced in cases in which the Court has heard oral argument. Each opinion sets out the Court’s judgment and its reasoning and may include the majority or principal opinion as well as any concurring or dissenting opinions. All opinions in a single case are published together and are prefaced by a syllabus prepared by the Reporter of Decisions that summarizes the Court’s decision. The Justice who authors the majority or principal opinion often will summarize the opinion from the bench during a Court session.
The Court may also dispose of cases in per curiam opinions, which do not identify the author. These cases frequently resolve cases summarily, often without oral argument. But per curiam opinions have sometimes been issued in argued cases.
In-chambers opinions are written by an individual Justice to dispose of an application by a party for interim relief, e.g., for a stay of the judgment of the court below, for vacation of a stay, or for a temporary injunction.
Justices may also write opinions relating to the orders of the Court, e.g., to dissent from a denial of certiorari or to concur in that denial.
Opinions are posted on the website upon release in slip opinion format. Slip opinions remain posted until replaced with opinions edited to reflect the usual publication style of the United States Reports. Updated PDF versions of the opinions are posted on this website as the publication process proceeds, including preliminary prints and bound volumes of the United States Reports.
Federal Courts Opinions
United States Courts Opinions (USCOURTS) collection is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) to provide public access to opinions from selected United States appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The USCOURTS collection is consistent with the E-Government Act's requirement for the substance of all written opinions, issued after April 16, 2005, to be made available in a text searchable format. [Pub. L. No. 107-347, Title II, Section 205]
The content of this collection dates back to April 2004, though searchable electronic holdings for some courts may be incomplete for this earlier time period, and some courts may have holdings dating farther back. Once an opinion is located, all associated opinions within the same case can be accessed from the opinion Content Details page
