Executive Orders

An executive order is a signed, written directive from the President to officials and agencies of the executive branch. The Constitution never mentions them. Their authority comes from the President's Article II powers, such as the duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed and command of the armed forces, or from powers Congress has delegated by statute. Orders have been numbered since 1907, when the State Department began a series reaching back to 1862, and the count has passed 14,000. They are published in the Federal Register.

Executive orders can reorganize agencies, set enforcement priorities, establish policies for federal contractors and employees, and direct agencies to write regulations. They cannot create new law, override statutes, or spend money Congress has not appropriated. In Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer in 1952 the Supreme Court struck down Harry Truman's order seizing the steel mills during the Korean War because no statute or constitutional power supported it. Courts regularly block orders that exceed the President's authority. Presidents also act through memoranda and proclamations, which differ mainly in form.

Because an order binds only the executive branch, a later President can revoke it with another order, and new presidents routinely reverse dozens of their predecessor's orders in the first days of a term. Franklin Roosevelt issued the most, more than 3,700. Recent presidents have relied on them more heavily as legislation has grown harder to pass, and Donald Trump signed more than 200 in 2025, the most in a single year since Roosevelt. His second-term total reached 271 by the end of July 2026, though the monthly pace slowed sharply after 2025. Critics in both parties have argued that governing by executive order makes policy unstable and bypasses Congress, while presidents argue it is the only way to act when Congress will not.