Political vocabulary & government processes · Article 15 of 20 · United States
Executive order
A directive for executive-branch operations.
What the term means
An executive order is a presidential directive used to manage executive-branch activities or implement authority derived from the Constitution or statutes. It is not automatically equivalent to a law passed by Congress.
How it works in practice
An order cannot lawfully override a statute or the Constitution. Courts may review orders in appropriate cases, and later administrations can revise many orders within legal limits.
A concrete example
A president can direct agencies to review existing procurement rules, but a directive alone cannot supply funds Congress has not appropriated.
What to examine next
Read the order’s cited authority and ask what agencies are actually required to do.
Next: Regulation.