Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness
The order directs the National Security Advisor and relevant agencies to develop a National Resilience Strategy and conduct broad reviews of federal critical infrastructure, continuity, and preparedness policies, with a stated goal of shifting more ownership of disaster readiness to states, localities, and individuals.
Establishes a multi-stage review process — culminating in a National Risk Register and a proposed overhaul of the overlapping federal preparedness framework — but makes no binding policy changes itself; all changes depend on future presidential decisions after receiving agency recommendations.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) to publish a National Resilience Strategy within 90 days, then to recommend revisions to critical infrastructure policies within 180 days and national continuity policies within 180 days. Within 240 days, the APNSA must also recommend changes to national preparedness and response policies and coordinate development of a National Risk Register that quantifies natural and adversarial threats to infrastructure. Within one year, the Secretary of Homeland Security must propose changes to the tangled framework of overlapping federal preparedness "functions" — including National Essential Functions, Emergency Support Functions, and Community Lifelines — coordinating through the National Security Council before submitting to the President.
The order does not itself revoke or replace any existing policy. All policy changes require a separate presidential decision after the APNSA or Secretary of Homeland Security submits recommendations. Explicit exclusions carve out policies related to "misinformation," "disinformation," or "cognitive infrastructure," which are directed to a separate review process under a prior executive order.
Who it affects
Senior White House advisors, federal agencies involved in emergency management and infrastructure security, FEMA, state and local governments that receive federal preparedness guidance and funding, and private-sector owners of critical infrastructure who may see federal investment priorities shift based on the new National Risk Register.
Why it matters
Federal emergency preparedness policy — which governs how the government responds to hurricanes, cyberattacks, wildfires, and other disasters — could be significantly restructured. States and localities may gain more responsibility and autonomy, while the federal role is reframed around a risk-based rather than all-hazards approach.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The order sequences its deliverables: the National Resilience Strategy (90 days) anchors all subsequent reviews. Critical infrastructure and continuity reviews follow at 180 days, preparedness and response reviews and the National Risk Register at 240 days, and the federal functions framework proposal at one year. The Secretary of Homeland Security's framework proposal must clear the NSC coordination process before reaching the President. No enforcement mechanism for missed deadlines is specified; the order's general provisions also subject implementation to available appropriations.
Actions and deadlines
- Publish a National Resilience Strategy articulating priorities and means to advance national resilience
- Review all critical infrastructure policies and recommend revisions, rescissions, and replacements to the President
- Review all national continuity policies and recommend revisions, rescissions, and replacements to the President
- Review all national preparedness and response policies and recommend revisions, rescissions, and replacements to the President
- Coordinate development of a National Risk Register identifying and quantifying natural and adversarial risks to national infrastructure
- Secretary of Homeland Security proposes changes to Federal National Functions framework and implementing documents