Department of Justice
Executive orders directing the Department of Justice · 25 in Obama · 103 all terms.
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Orders
25 shown · Obama
Continuing To Expand Opportunity for All Young People
This memorandum amends a 2014 Obama-era initiative by renaming the 'My Brother's Keeper' program to the 'Task Force on Improving the Lives of Boys and Young Men of Color and Underserved Youth,' expanding its membership to include 23 specified agency heads and officials, adding reporting requirements including annual status reports and biennial reviews, and broadening the scope to explicitly include 'underserved youth' alongside boys and young men of color.
Advancing the Global Health Security Agenda To Achieve a World Safe and Secure From Infectious Disease Threats
This executive order institutionalizes U.S. participation in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), a multinational initiative to strengthen countries' abilities to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. It creates a new interagency council chaired by National Security Council staff, assigns specific roles to 13 agencies, and mandates reporting and external evaluation requirements through 2019.
A Comprehensive Approach to Atrocity Prevention and Response
This executive order institutionalizes the Atrocities Prevention Board (APB) originally established by Presidential Study Directive-10 in 2012, formalizing its structure, membership, and operational protocols across national security agencies. It mandates interagency coordination on monitoring, early warning, deterrence, and response to mass atrocities and genocide, with specific requirements for intelligence collection, civilian capacity deployment, training, and annual reporting to the President and public.
Promoting Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
This memorandum establishes a Federal Interagency Reentry Council co-chaired by the Attorney General and the White House Domestic Policy Council Director to coordinate federal efforts reducing recidivism and removing barriers to employment, housing, and reintegration for formerly incarcerated individuals. It directs agencies to review hiring and occupational licensing procedures to avoid automatic disqualification based on criminal records, and requires a federal strategic plan within 100 days.
Steps to Increase Competition and Better Inform Consumers and Workers to Support Continued Growth of the American Economy
This executive order directs federal agencies to use their authorities to promote market competition, inform consumers and workers, and eliminate regulations that restrict competition without public benefit. It requires agencies to identify anti-competitive practices, submit action plans to the National Economic Council, and report semi-annually on pro-competition efforts.
Developing an Integrated Global Engagement Center To Support Government-wide Counterterrorism Communications Activities Directed Abroad and Revoking Executive Order 13584
This executive order establishes the Global Engagement Center (GEC) within the State Department to coordinate U.S. government communications aimed at foreign audiences to counter terrorist messaging from ISIL, al-Qa'ida, and other violent extremists. It replaces the temporary organization created by Executive Order 13584 with a permanent center supported by a temporary coordination office (GECCO) and an interagency steering committee.
Creating and Expanding Ladders of Opportunity for Boys and Young Men of Color
President Obama established the My Brother's Keeper Task Force, an interagency initiative chaired by the Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary with the Deputy Secretary of Education as Executive Director, to improve life outcomes for boys and young men of color through better coordination of federal programs, data sharing, and public-private partnerships. The Task Force is directed to create assessment tools, evaluate federal policy impacts, and report back with recommendations within 90 days and a status report within one year.
Establishing a White House Task Force To Protect Students From Sexual Assault
President Obama established a White House Task Force co-chaired by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Council on Women and Girls to coordinate federal efforts addressing campus sexual assault. The Task Force must develop recommendations within 90 days and provide annual implementation reports, focusing on improving institutional compliance, transparency, and evidence-based prevention practices at colleges and universities receiving federal financial aid.
Delegation of Certain Functions and Authorities Under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012
This memorandum delegates specific functions and authorities under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (IFCA) and amended provisions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA) from the President to various cabinet secretaries and agency heads, primarily the Secretaries of Treasury and State, with detailed consultation requirements for imposing and implementing sanctions against Iran.
Improving Availability of Relevant Executive Branch Records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
This memorandum directs federal agencies to improve sharing of relevant records with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to prevent prohibited individuals from obtaining firearms. It establishes deadlines for DOJ guidance, agency reporting, and creates a working group to coordinate implementation of the 2007 NICS Improvement Amendments Act.
Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council
This executive order creates the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council and its Steering Committee to institutionalize collaboration between federal field offices and local partners—including state/local/tribal governments, private sector, and nonprofits—to address homeland security challenges ranging from disaster response to terrorism prevention. The Council advises on priorities, promotes best practices, and convenes annually, while the Steering Committee sets its scope, selects members, and reports to the President yearly.
Regarding the Acquisition of Four U.S. Wind Farm Project Companies by Ralls Corporation
President Obama issued a rare presidential order under the Defense Production Act blocking a Chinese-owned company (Ralls Corporation, affiliated with Sany Group) from acquiring four Oregon wind farm projects near a U.S. Navy weapons systems training facility. The order mandates divestment within 90 days (extendable by 3 months), removal of all equipment within 14 days, and imposes ongoing CFIUS oversight and compliance verification.
Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities
This executive order establishes the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Education and Interior, to improve educational outcomes for AI/AN students across all educational settings. It mandates interagency coordination, requires a Memorandum of Understanding between Education and Interior within 120 days, and directs federal agencies to develop four-year implementation plans with annual performance reporting.
Developing an Integrated Strategic Counterterrorism Communications Initiative and Establishing a Temporary Organization to Support Certain Government-wide Communications Activities Directed Abroad
This executive order establishes a Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications within the State Department to coordinate U.S. government-wide counterterrorism messaging abroad, and creates a temporary Counterterrorism Communications Support Office to provide research and campaign support. Both entities focus on countering al-Qa'ida and violent extremist ideologies through strategic communications to foreign audiences.
Establishment of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committees
This executive order establishes two interagency advisory committees—the Senior Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committee and the Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committee—to coordinate federal intellectual property enforcement efforts. Both committees are chaired by the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator and are tasked with developing triennial Joint Strategic Plans required under the PRO IP Act of 2008.
Controlled Unclassified Information
This executive order establishes a uniform, government-wide system for managing unclassified information that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls, replacing the previous patchwork of agency-specific policies. It designates the National Archives and Records Administration as the Executive Agent to implement the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) program across the executive branch.
Delegation of Certain Functions and Authorities Under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010
This memorandum delegates specific presidential authorities under the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (as amended by CISADA) and CISADA itself to the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Attorney General, U.S. Trade Representative, Federal Reserve Chairman, and Export-Import Bank President. It maintains a prior 1996 memorandum for certain provisions while reassigning others.
A Comprehensive Federal Strategy on Carbon Capture and Storage
This memorandum establishes an Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage co-chaired by DOE and EPA to develop a plan within 180 days to overcome barriers to deploying CCS technology. It aims to bring 5-10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016, with the goal of widespread cost-effective CCS deployment within 10 years.
Directing Certain Actions With Respect to Acquisition and Use of Thomson Correctional Center To Facilitate Closure of Detention Facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
This memorandum directs the Attorney General to acquire and activate the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois as a federal penitentiary, with a portion reserved for Department of Defense operation to house Guantanamo detainees. The Secretary of Defense is directed to prepare the facility and relocate designated Guantanamo detainees there, consistent with applicable laws and Executive Order 13492.
Directing Certain Actions with Respect to Acquisition and Use of Thomson Correctional Center to Facilitate Closure of Detention Facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
This memorandum directs the Attorney General to acquire and activate the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois as a federal penitentiary and to provide a portion to the Department of Defense for detainee housing. The Secretary of Defense is directed to prepare the facility and relocate Guantanamo Bay detainees there, consistent with Executive Order 13492 and applicable laws.
Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination
This memorandum directs federal agencies to extend available employment benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees where legally authorized, requires a 90-day review of additional benefits that could be extended, and mandates OPM guidance within 90 days on compliance with non-discrimination laws for federal workplaces.
Preemption
This memorandum establishes a policy restricting executive agencies from preempting state law through regulations unless there is explicit congressional authorization or sufficient legal basis. It directs agency heads to review regulations from the past 10 years containing preemption provisions and amend those that cannot be legally justified.
Establishment of the Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru and Assignment of Function under Section 501 of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
This memorandum establishes an Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru to oversee implementation of Annex 18.3.4 of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, assigns a presidential function to the USTR, and directs several Cabinet secretaries to issue implementing regulations. The committee had a statutory deadline of 90 days after the Agreement's February 1, 2009 entry into force, making the establishment deadline May 2, 2009.
Establishment of the White House Office of Urban Affairs
This executive order creates the White House Office of Urban Affairs within the Executive Office of the President to coordinate federal urban policy across departments and agencies. The Office is tasked with developing a comprehensive urban policy agenda, ensuring federal spending in urban areas is effective, and engaging with state/local officials and private stakeholders.
Freedom of Information Act
This memorandum directs executive agencies to adopt a presumption of disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, instructing the Attorney General to issue new FOIA guidelines and the OMB Director to update public information dissemination guidance, including through new technologies.