E.O.13600

Establishing the President's Global Development Council

February 9, 2012·Barack Obama·77 FR 8713

Establishes the President's Global Development Council, housed administratively within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to advise the President on development policy as part of national security and foreign policy strategy. The Council includes up to 12 outside appointees representing academia, nonprofits, civil society, and private industry, plus non-voting officials from the State Department, Treasury, Defense Department, USAID, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The President designates a Chair and Vice Chair. The Council is directed to advise on effective development approaches, support public-private partnerships, and gather public input on development issues. USAID provides funding and administrative support, including an Executive Director appointed by its Administrator. Outside members serve unpaid but may receive travel expenses. The order specifies that agency heads must assist the Council as needed, and states the Council will terminate two years after the order's signing unless the President renews it.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13599

Blocking Property of the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions

February 5, 2012·Barack Obama·77 FR 6659

Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and other authorities, and building on the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957, this order blocks all property and interests in property of the Government of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran, and of any Iranian financial institution, if such property is in the United States or comes under the control of a U.S. person, including foreign branches. It also blocks property of anyone determined by the Treasury Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to be owned, controlled by, or acting on behalf of such blocked parties. It prohibits donations, contributions, and transactions benefiting blocked persons, bars evasion or conspiracy to violate the order, and exempts official U.S. government business. It waives advance notice to affected parties, authorizes the Treasury and State Departments to issue implementing regulations and exercise related statutory authorities, and states the measures respond to Iranian actions occurring after the 1981 Algiers Accords. It took effect February 6, 2012.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13598

Assignment of Functions Relating to Certain Promotion and Appointment Actions in the Armed Forces

January 27, 2012·Barack Obama·77 FR 5371

Assigns the Secretary of Defense to perform certain presidential functions under title 10 of the United States Code related to military promotions and appointments. This includes reviewing reports on promotions to brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half) and above, extending officer promotion eligibility periods, and appointing members of the Marine Band and Marine Drum and Bugle Corps to grades up to captain. The Secretary may reassign the reporting and eligibility-extension functions only to Senate-confirmed civilian officers within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, but may not reassign the authority over Marine Band and Drum and Bugle Corps appointments. The order states it does not limit the President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief or over appointments, and it creates no enforceable legal rights for any outside party.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13597

Establishing Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing Goals and the Task Force On Travel and Competitiveness

January 19, 2012·Barack Obama·77 FR 3373

Directs federal agencies to improve visa processing and foreign visitor travel to the United States while maintaining national security. Requires the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, within 60 days, to develop an implementation plan to increase nonimmigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent, ensure 80 percent of visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks, expand the Visa Waiver Program, and expand expedited-travel programs like Global Entry, with progress reports due within 180 days. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to maintain a public website tracking travel industry metrics. Establishes a Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior with representatives from multiple agencies, to develop a National Travel and Tourism Strategy within 90 days aimed at increasing the U.S. share of worldwide travel, including from Brazil, China, and India, promoting visits to public lands and rural communities, and coordinating with Brand USA and the Tourism Policy Council.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13596

Amendments to Executive Orders 12131 and 13539

December 19, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 80725

Amends Executive Order 12131 to revise the membership list of the President's Export Council, specifying the executive departments, agencies, and offices (including State, Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Energy, Transportation, Homeland Security, the Trade Representative's office, and several other bodies) whose heads or representatives serve on it, along with representatives of the National Governors Association and U.S. Conference of Mayors, ten members of Congress, and up to 28 presidentially appointed citizens from business, agriculture, and labor. Also amends Executive Order 13539 to shift responsibility for funding and administrative support of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and for performing certain functions under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, from a prior designated official to the Secretary of Energy.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13595

Instituting a National Action Plan On Women, Peace, And Security

December 19, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 80205

Establishes a policy requiring the executive branch to maintain a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, covering integration of gender considerations into diplomatic, development, and defense work; women's participation in peace processes; protection from violence including sexual and gender-based violence; conflict prevention; and access to relief and recovery in conflict-affected settings. Directs the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to designate coordinating officers, submit agency-specific implementation plans within 150 days of the plan's release, and monitor and report on execution to the President's National Security Advisor. Directs the National Security Advisor to set up an interagency process to coordinate implementation, establish progress reporting, provide annual reports to the President, and coordinate periodic reviews and updates of the plan, with the first review in 2015. States it does not alter existing agency legal authority, applies subject to available funding, encourages independent agencies to comply, and creates no enforceable legal rights.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13594

Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay

December 19, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 80191

Sets updated pay rates and schedules for various categories of federal employees, effective at the start of 2012, under authority including a law freezing certain civilian pay schedules at 2010 levels through 2012. Establishes rates for the General Schedule, the Foreign Service Schedule, Veterans Health Administration pay, the Senior Executive Service, the Executive Schedule, the Vice President and Congress, federal judges, uniformed service members and cadets, administrative law judges, and locality-based pay adjustments, each attached as separate schedules. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement locality-based comparability payments and publish notice of them in the Federal Register. States that pay for uniformed service members and cadets takes effect January 1, 2012, while the other schedules take effect at the start of the first pay period on or after that date. Supersedes the prior year's pay order, Executive Order 13561 of December 22, 2010.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13593

2011 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States

December 13, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 78451

Amends Parts III and IV of the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, which was originally prescribed by Executive Order 12473, incorporating changes described in an attached annex. The amendments take effect 30 days after the order's signing. They do not make punishable any act committed before the effective date that was not already punishable, and they do not invalidate nonjudicial punishment proceedings, restraint, investigations, referral of charges, trials where arraignment had already occurred, or other actions begun before the effective date; such ongoing matters may continue as if the amendments had not been made. The order applies to military justice procedures under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13592

Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities

December 2, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 76603

Establishes the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Education and the Interior, to expand educational opportunities and improve outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native students, including those in public schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. Creates an Executive Director post and an Interagency Working Group with representatives from several federal agencies. Directs the Education and Interior Departments to sign a Memorandum of Understanding within 120 days, and requires participating agencies to develop four-year plans with performance measures, submit them for review, and file annual performance reports. Assigns the National Advisory Council on Indian Education as the Initiative's advisory committee, directs a study collecting data on American Indian and Alaska Native education, and encourages private-sector support for affected schools. Revokes Executive Order 13270, Executive Order 13336, and part of Executive Order 13585.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13591

Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees

November 23, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 74623

Extends the operating deadlines for several federal advisory committees created by earlier executive orders. Continues committees including the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations, the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the President's Management Advisory Board, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development, and the State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector Policy Advisory Committee until September 30, 2013. Extends the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health until September 30, 2012. Amends Executive Order 13530 so the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability terminates on January 29, 2013 unless extended. Assigns the President's functions under the Federal Advisory Committee Act for these committees to the head of each designated department or agency, following procedures set by the Administrator of General Services.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13590

Authorizing the Imposition of Certain Sanctions With Respect to the Provision of Goods, Services, Technology, or Support for Iran's Energy and Petrochemical Sectors

November 20, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 72609

Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957, this order authorizes the Secretary of State, in consultation with other agencies, to impose sanctions on any person found to knowingly sell, lease, or provide Iran with goods, services, technology, or support above set dollar thresholds that significantly aid Iran's petroleum development or petrochemical production, as well as on successors, owners, or affiliates of such persons. Available sanctions include denial of Export-Import Bank support, export license restrictions, exclusion from U.S. government contracts and financial roles, limits on loans and foreign exchange transactions, blocking of property and interests in the United States, and import restrictions. It bars transactions that evade these prohibitions or conspiracies to violate them, directs the Treasury Secretary to issue implementing regulations, states that blocked persons need not receive prior notice, and specifies that these measures respond to Iranian actions after the 1981 Algiers Accords. It took effect November 21, 2011.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13589

Promoting Efficient Spending

November 9, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 70863

Directs federal executive departments and agencies to reduce combined administrative costs covered by the order by at least 20 percent below Fiscal Year 2010 levels by Fiscal Year 2013, with implementation plans due to the Office of Management and Budget within 45 days. Encourages agencies to cut travel and conference spending by using teleconferencing, government-controlled meeting space, and reviewing relocation policies, and asks each agency to designate a senior official to oversee such spending controls. Calls for limiting employee issuance of mobile phones, computers, and other IT devices, consolidating IT services, reducing hard-copy printing in favor of electronic documents, limiting executive vehicle transportation building on an earlier presidential memorandum on federal fleets, and curbing purchases of promotional items like plaques and clothing. States it does not alter existing legal authority of agencies, the OMB Director, or inspectors general, applies subject to available appropriations, and requests but does not require independent agencies to comply. Creates no enforceable legal rights.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13588

Reducing Prescription Drug Shortages

October 31, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 68295

Directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take steps to prevent and reduce shortages of prescription drugs, particularly those that are life-supporting, life-sustaining, or that prevent debilitating disease. Instructs the FDA to use its administrative authority under federal reporting law to require drug manufacturers to give advance notice of manufacturing discontinuances that could lead to shortages. Directs the FDA to expand efforts to expedite regulatory reviews of new drug suppliers, manufacturing sites, and manufacturing changes when doing so would help avoid or ease shortages, prioritizing based on severity and public health importance. Requires the FDA to report to the Department of Justice any findings that shortages have led market participants to stockpile drugs or sell them at excessive prices, with the Department of Justice then responsible for determining whether such conduct violates the law and pursuing enforcement as it deems appropriate, in coordination with other agencies.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13587

Structural Reforms To Improve the Security of Classified Networks and the Responsible Sharing and Safeguarding of Classified Information

October 7, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 63811

Directs structural reforms to how federal agencies share and protect classified information on computer networks. Requires agency heads to designate senior officials for information sharing and safeguarding, implement insider threat detection programs, and conduct compliance self-assessments. Establishes a Senior Information Sharing and Safeguarding Steering Committee, co-chaired by the Office of Management and Budget and the National Security Staff, to set government-wide goals and report to the President within 90 days and annually thereafter. Creates a Classified Information Sharing and Safeguarding Office to support the committee, names the Secretary of Defense and the Director of the National Security Agency as joint Executive Agent for developing technical safeguarding standards, and establishes an interagency Insider Threat Task Force, co-chaired by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence, to issue binding minimum standards within one year. States that these activities must not interfere with lawful whistleblower disclosures and do not override existing agency authorities under prior executive orders and statutes. Applies to all agencies and contractors operating or accessing classified computer networks.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13586

Establishing an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between Certain Railroads Represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference and Their Employees Represented by Certain Labor Organizations

October 6, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 63533

Creates a five-member Emergency Board, appointed by the President, to investigate unresolved labor disputes between certain railroads represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference and their employees represented by certain labor organizations, listed in an attachment to the order. Acting under the Railway Labor Act after the National Mediation Board reported that the disputes threaten to substantially interrupt interstate commerce, the order sets the Board up effective October 7, 2011, bars members with financial ties to the railroads or unions, and requires the Board to report to the President within 30 days. It also freezes existing conditions underlying the disputes until 30 days after the report is submitted, unless the parties agree otherwise, directs the Board's records to be kept by the National Mediation Board after the Board ends, and states the Board terminates once it submits its report.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13585

Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees

September 30, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 62281

Extends the operation of fifteen federal advisory committees until September 30, 2013, including the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, President's Commission on White House Fellowships, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science, President's Export Council, President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, National Infrastructure Advisory Council, and others, assigning oversight of each to the head of its designated department or agency under General Services Administration guidelines. Supersedes related provisions of Executive Order 13511. Also amends Executive Order 13515, which established the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, by changing its leadership structure so the Secretary of Education and a presidentially designated official serve as Co-Chairs of the related Initiative, replacing the prior arrangement with the Secretaries of Education and Commerce, and by adding the Departments of Commerce and Education to the Initiative's list of member agencies. The order takes effect September 30, 2011.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13584

Developing an Integrated Strategic Counterterrorism Communications Initiative and Establishing a Temporary Organization to Support Certain Government-wide Communications Activities Directed Abroad

September 9, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 56945

Directs executive branch agencies to coordinate public communications efforts aimed at countering al-Qa'ida, its affiliates, and other terrorist organizations and violent extremists among audiences outside the United States. Places the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, under the Secretary of State, in charge of coordinating, developing, and evaluating U.S. strategic counterterrorism narratives, monitoring extremist messaging, sharing communications technologies, and identifying capability gaps, working with the National Counterterrorism Center and other agencies. Establishes a Steering Committee, chaired by the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, with representatives from the Departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and the Agency for International Development, meeting at least every six months. Creates a temporary Counterterrorism Communications Support Office within the State Department, led by a Director, to support agencies with research, campaign design, and social media strategy, staffed partly by non-reimbursable details from other agencies, and set to terminate after the maximum period allowed under federal personnel law unless ended sooner.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13583

Establishing a Coordinated Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce

August 18, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 52847

Directs the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget, working with the President's Management Council and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to establish a government-wide initiative promoting diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. Within 90 days, they must issue a Government-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan addressing recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention, training, and removal of barriers to equal opportunity, to be updated at least every four years, and must set up a system for tracking agencies' progress. Requires each executive department and agency head to designate a Chief Human Capital Officer to oversee these efforts, and to develop and submit an agency-specific Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan within 120 days of the government-wide plan's issuance, then implement it as part of the agency's human capital plan. States the order does not affect existing agency authorities or OMB budgetary functions, must be carried out consistent with law and available funding, and creates no enforceable legal rights.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13582

Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to Syria

August 17, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 52209

Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act, and building on the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13338 and related orders, this order blocks all property and interests in property of the Government of Syria located in the United States or under the control of U.S. persons, as well as property of anyone determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to have materially supported or acted for such blocked persons. It prohibits new U.S. investment in Syria, exports of services to Syria by U.S. persons, importation of Syrian petroleum or petroleum products, and related transactions or facilitation by U.S. persons or foreign persons acting through them. It bars donations to blocked persons, prohibits evasion or conspiracy to violate its terms, and exempts official U.S. government business. It authorizes the Treasury Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to issue regulations and implement the order, and states that blocked persons need not receive prior notice. The order took effect August 18, 2011.Read the full summaryShow less

E.O.13581

Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations

July 24, 2011·Barack Obama·76 FR 44757

Declares a national emergency to address the threat posed by significant transnational criminal organizations, citing their role in weakening governments, undermining the rule of law, and destabilizing economic and financial systems. Blocks all property and interests in property within the United States, or under the control of U.S. persons, belonging to organizations listed in an annex to the order, as well as any additional persons the Secretary of the Treasury—in consultation with the Attorney General and Secretary of State—determines to be such organizations or to provide them material support. Prohibits donations, transactions, and dealings that benefit blocked persons, and bars any transaction intended to evade these restrictions. Waives advance notice before listing a person, citing the risk that funds could otherwise be moved quickly. Authorizes the Treasury Secretary to issue regulations, delegate authority, report to Congress, and remove designations when circumstances change. Applies to U.S. persons, entities, and foreign persons involved in such organizations, effective July 25, 2011.Read the full summaryShow less