Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act
The order adds the Secretary of Energy as an independent co-delegate alongside the Secretary of Commerce for certain Defense Production Act authorities, and clarifies that agency heads need only seek Presidential approval under the national energy emergency order when the relevant authority has not already been delegated to them.
What this order does
What it orders
The order amends Section 203 of Executive Order 13603 — the National Defense Resources Preparedness order — by inserting the Secretary of Energy alongside the Secretary of Commerce as a holder of certain delegated Defense Production Act authorities. Each Secretary may exercise those authorities independently of the other. It also clarifies Executive Order 14156 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency) by specifying that agency heads are only required to recommend action to the President when the authority in question rests solely with the President and has not been delegated.
The order does not change any underlying law, create new rights or benefits, or transfer any authority away from agency heads who already hold it by prior delegation. It is a targeted technical correction to resolve potential ambiguity about the Energy Secretary's independent authority under the Defense Production Act and about when the national energy emergency order requires upward referral to the President.
Who it affects
The Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Commerce, whose Defense Production Act authorities are now explicitly co-equal and independent, and all agency heads operating under the national energy emergency declaration who now have clearer guidance on when to escalate decisions to the President.
Why it matters
The Secretary of Energy gains independent authority to act under the Defense Production Act without coordinating with the Commerce Secretary, and federal agency heads no longer face ambiguity about whether they must seek Presidential sign-off on actions they already have delegated authority to take under the energy emergency order.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The amendment to EO 13603 takes effect immediately upon signing and requires no rulemaking or implementation steps — it rewrites a single phrase in the existing delegation table. The clarification of EO 14156 similarly operates by removing interpretive ambiguity in place without further agency action. No reporting requirements, timelines, or oversight mechanisms are created. Publication costs are assigned to the Department of Energy.
Agencies directed to act
Authority and reach
What this order changes
Amends Executive Order 13603