National Defense Industrial Resources Preparedness

This executive order delegates presidential authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to cabinet secretaries and agency heads for national defense industrial resource preparedness. It establishes frameworks for priorities and allocations of materials and services, expansion of productive capacity through loans and guarantees, labor supply management, and defense industrial base information systems, while revoking and consolidating eleven prior executive orders.

Federal Register 59 FR 29525

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Impact dates

Jun 2, 1996
Biennial report on critical components and technology (Section 722(e) of Act)
Jun 3, 1995
Annual offset report to Congress (prepared by Secretary of Commerce, cleared through OMB)
Jun 6, 1994
NDER activation notification to Assistant to President for National Security Affairs

Key directives

Delegate priorities and allocations authority to Secretary of Agriculture (food resources, farm equipment, fertilizer), Secretary of Energy (all energy), Secretary of HHS (health resources), Secretary of Transportation (civil transportation), Secretary of Defense (water resources), and Secretary of Commerce (all other materials, services, facilities)
Secretary of Commerce to administer DPAS regulations and serve as President's Executive Agent on offsets
Director, FEMA to coordinate central planning, advise National Security Council, and resolve interagency priority disputes
Secretary of Defense designated Defense Production Act Fund Manager
Secretary of Labor to collect labor data, project skill shortages, formulate training programs, and develop induction/deferment policies with Selective Service
Establish National Defense Executive Reserve of private sector and government (non-federal) experts for emergency executive positions
Secretary of Defense to convene task force for defense industrial base information system and report strategic plan to Congress
Secretary of Treasury to report on foreign acquisition of U.S. critical technology companies and industrial espionage

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

Revocation of 11 prior executive orders and partial amendments to 2 others
Establishment of National Defense Executive Reserve (NDER) structure
Delegation of priorities and allocations authorities to six cabinet secretaries

Near term (90d)

FEMA to establish procedures for resolving interagency conflicts
Secretary of Commerce to administer Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) regulations
Department heads to begin identifying requirements and assessing industrial base capabilities

Long term

Establishment of defense industrial base information system (Section 722 of Act)
Biennial reporting on critical components and technology
Ongoing NDER recruitment and training
Annual offset report to Congress
Strategic plan for comprehensive information system on supply chain vulnerabilities

Risks & tensions

Broad delegation of wartime-style economic control authorities to cabinet secretaries without explicit triggering conditions raises questions about threshold for activation
Potential tension between defense priorities and civilian market needs under Section 201(d) findings for controlling general distribution of materials
FEMA's central coordination role may create friction with powerful cabinet departments (Defense, Energy, Commerce)
Unclear scope of 'national emergency' or 'potential threat' triggers for many authorities—text uses conditional language ('in the event of,' 'when necessary') without defining thresholds
Offset reporting and foreign acquisition monitoring involve intelligence community coordination that may create interagency information-sharing friction
Section 905 explicitly bars judicial review, limiting accountability mechanisms