A presidential memorandum is a type of directive issued by the president of the United States to manage and govern the actions, practices, and policies of the various departments and agencies found under the executive branch of the United States government. It has the force of law and is usually used to delegate tasks, direct specific government agencies to do something, or to start a regulatory process. [1] There are three types of presidential memoranda: presidential determination or presidential finding, memorandum of disapproval, and hortatory memorandum. [2]
Sometimes used interchangeably, an executive order is a more prestigious form of executive action that must cite the specific constitutional or statutory authority the president has to use it. [1] Unlike executive orders, memoranda are not required by law to be published in the Federal Register , but publication is necessary in order to have "general applicability and legal effect". [3] The Federal Register gives publication priority to executive orders and presidential proclamations over memoranda. [4] Memoranda can be amended or rescinded by executive orders or another memorandum, but executive orders take legal precedence and cannot be changed by a memorandum. [3]
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In the past, presidential memoranda have been referred to as presidential letters. [2]
| President | Number Issued |
|---|---|
| Barack Obama | 644 [5] |
| Donald Trump (as of January 6,2020 [update] ) | 167 [6] |
Presidential determination, or presidential finding, are memoranda required by a statute and must be issued before certain actions are taken. For example, a presidential determination on the status of a country must be released before sanctions are imposed on the country. [2]
A memorandum of disapproval is a public veto statement. [2]
A hortatory memorandum is issued as a broad policy statement, but unlike a presidential proclamation is directed to executive agencies. [2]
In 2017, President Donald Trump issued the national security directives under the name of "national security presidential memorandums". They operate like executive orders, but are only in the area of national security. They date back to President Harry S. Truman and have been issued by various presidents under different names. [7]
Executive Order 12170 was issued by American president Jimmy Carter on November 14, 1979, ten days after the Iran hostage crisis had started. The executive order, empowered under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ordered the freezing of all Iranian government assets held within the United States.
Executive Order 13766 is the second executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Signed on January 24, 2017, this order establishes a new system by which to fast-track the construction of infrastructure projects.
A presidential directive, or executive action, is a written or oral instruction or declaration issued by the president of the United States, which may draw upon the powers vested in the president by the U.S. Constitution, statutory law, or, in certain cases, congressional and judicial acquiescence. Such directives, which have been issued since the earliest days of the federal government, have become known by various names, and some have prescribed forms and purposes. Presidential directives remain in effect until they are revoked, which the president is free to do. The classification of presidential directives is not easily done, as the distinction between the types can be quite arbitrary, arising from convenience and bureaucratic evolution, and none are defined in the Constitution. Furthermore, the different types may overlap. As one legal scholar put it: "it is a bit misleading to overclassify presidential directives as comprising separate and distinct 'types' just because they have different headings at the top of the first page." In terms of legal applicability, what matters is the substance of the directive, not the form, unless a certain kind of directive is specifically required by relevant statute.
Executive orders are issued to help officers and agencies of the executive branch manage the operations within the federal government itself. Presidential memoranda are closely related, and have the force of law on the Executive Branch, but are generally considered less prestigious. Presidential memoranda do not have an established process for issuance, and unlike executive orders, they are not numbered. A presidential determination is a determination resulting in an official policy or position of the executive branch of the United States government. A presidential proclamation is a statement issued by a president on a matter of public policy issued under specific authority granted to the president by Congress and typically on a matter of widespread interest. Administrative orders are signed documents such as notices, letters, and orders that can be issued to conduct administrative operations of the federal government. A presidential notice or a presidential sequestration order can also be issued. National security directives1 operate like executive orders, but are only in the area of national security. They have been issued by different presidents under various names.