National Emergency Authority To Order the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty
Signed March 27, 2020·Donald Trump·85 FR 18407
Source
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Plain-language summary
Invoking the National Emergencies Act in support of the national emergency declared over the COVID-19 outbreak, the order authorizes the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to call up units and individual members of the Ready Reserve to active duty for up to 24 consecutive months, capped at 1,000,000 members on active duty at any one time. The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force may do so at the Defense Secretary's direction, as can the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding the Coast Guard when it is not operating as part of the Navy. The relevant secretary must consult with appropriate state officials before activating National Guard Reserve Component units under this authority. The order states it does not alter existing agency authority or Office of Management and Budget functions, must be carried out consistent with applicable law and available funding, and creates no enforceable legal rights.
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Claimed authority
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and in furtherance of Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak), which declared a national emergency by reason of the threat that the novel (new) coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 poses to our Nation's healthcare systems, I hereby order
Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.
The order, in full
Executive Order 13912 of March 27, 2020
National Emergency Authority To Order the
Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual
Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the National Emergencies Act (50
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and in furtherance of
Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a
National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus
Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak), which declared a national
emergency by reason of the threat that the novel (new)
coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 poses to our Nation's
healthcare systems, I hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Emergency Authority. To provide additional
authority to the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland
Security to respond to the national emergency declared
by Proclamation 9994, the authorities under section
12302 of title 10, United States Code, and sections
2127, 2308, 2314, and 3735 of title 14, United States
Code, are invoked and made available, according to
their terms, to the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland
Security. The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air
Force, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense,
and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to
the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service
in the Navy, are authorized to order to active duty not
to exceed 24 consecutive months, such units, and
individual members of the Ready Reserve under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned, not to exceed
1,000,000 members on active duty at any one time, as
the Secretary of Defense and, with respect to the Coast
Guard when it is not operating as a service in the
Navy, the Secretary of Homeland Security consider
necessary. The Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of
Homeland Security, as applicable, will ensure
appropriate consultation is undertaken with relevant
state officials with respect to the utilization of
National Guard Reserve Component units activated under
this authority.
Sec. 2. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 27, 2020.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed March 27, 2020. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.