National Emergency Authority To Order the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty

The order invokes specific statutory call-up authorities — including 10 U.S.C. § 12302 and four Coast Guard provisions — granting the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security the power to order units and individual members of the Ready Reserve to active duty. It caps the total at 1,000,000 members on active duty at any one time and limits tours to no more than 24 consecutive months. The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force may act under the Secretary of Defense's direction; the Secretary of Homeland Security holds parallel authority over the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a Navy service.

The order does not itself activate any specific units or individuals — it makes the authority available for the Secretaries to exercise as they determine necessary. Consultation with relevant state officials is required before activating National Guard Reserve Component units, but no deadline or formal process is specified beyond that.

Members of the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve across all military branches, including the Coast Guard, who may be called to active duty. State officials whose National Guard units could be activated must be consulted. Indirectly, civilian healthcare systems and communities receiving military support are affected.

Up to one million reservists — many of whom hold civilian jobs and family obligations — can now be ordered to active duty by the service secretaries without additional congressional action. The mobilization ceiling is large enough to represent a significant share of the entire U.S. reserve force, reshaping deployment capacity during the pandemic.

The authority flows from the President to the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, who then direct the service secretaries (Army, Navy, Air Force) to issue individual or unit activation orders. The Secretary of Homeland Security holds independent authority for Coast Guard personnel not under Navy command. Activation must remain within the 1,000,000-member ceiling and 24-month tour cap. For National Guard Reserve Component units, the relevant Secretary must consult state officials before activation, though no formal consultation structure or approval requirement is specified. The order is subject to available appropriations.