Executive order

An executive order is a written directive issued by the president to officials and agencies of the executive branch. Orders are numbered and published in the Federal Register. Related instruments include presidential memoranda and proclamations.

An executive order must rest on authority the Constitution or Congress has given the president; it cannot create new law on its own or override a statute. Presidents use orders to set enforcement priorities, reorganize agencies, direct rulemaking, manage federal employees and contractors, and respond to emergencies. A later president can revoke or replace any order with a new one, which is why many orders are reversed when the White House changes parties.

Courts can block orders that exceed presidential power, as the Supreme Court did in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), when it struck down President Truman's seizure of steel mills. Both parties have criticized presidents of the other party for "governing by executive order" instead of through Congress. Challenges to orders are frequently brought in federal district courts, which has made the nationwide injunction a flashpoint. Orders also figure in debates over the unitary executive theory.