Presidential Memoranda: Nuclear Proliferation, VISA's, Pipelines

Delegation of Authority Under the National Defense Authorization Action for Fiscal Year 2017

This memoranda is dated March 19th and is addressed to the Secretary of State.  The memo delegates functions and authorities of the President listed in section 3132 of PL 114-328 to the Secretary of State.  The require has to do with updated plans for the proliferation of nuclear weapons and fissile material and providing these to appropriate congressional committees.

Memorandum of March 6th

The official title of this memorandum is "Implementing Immediate Heightened Screening and Vetting of Applications for Visas and Other Immigration Benefits, Ensuring Enforcement of All Laws for Entry Into the United States, and Increasing Transparency Among Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government and for the American People" which just rolls off the tongue.  It was issued on March 6th, 2017 and is addresses to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the Attorney General.  It is written similar to many Executive Orders and has 5 sections.

Section 1

This section defines policy.  It references an executive order and indicates that this memo is part of the implementation of that executive order.  It additional states that given the risks, additional heightened screening and vetting has to be implemented immediately even though the executive order asks that some studies be done to determine what is reasonable.

Section 2

This section directs the addressees to take any measures that they can that are consistent with current law to increase the level of screening and vetting of applications.

Section 3

This section directs various Executive branch heads to enforce using as strict interpretations as possible laws regarding inadmissibility of migrants.  Also, to the extent allowed by law, this section directors the Secretary of Homeland Security to create and amend rules to be as restrictive as allowed by law through the usual rulemaking process.

Section 4

This section directs that a monthly report be published regarding the number of visas that have been issued from each consular office.  Additionally a quarterly report is to be published detailing the number of adjustments of immigration status that have been made.  Finally, there is a report to be generated discussing the full costs of supporting refugees.

Section 5

This section includes the usual legal fine print necessary to assure that the memorandum does not overstep the constitutional limits imposed on the executive branch.  Finally, it also directs the publishing of the memo in the Federal Register.

Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline

This memorandum was signed January 24, 2017 and is addressed to the Secretary of the Army.  This was published in the Federal Register twice owing to a correction required in the first published edition.  It has three sections.

Section 1

This section discusses the importance of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the fact that the permitting process is stalled in one area.

Section 2

This section directs that necessary reviews for the Dakota Access pipeline be completed on an expeditious schedule.  Further, it asks that if it can be done, previously reviews be discarded where they are viewed as being too conservative in their approach or are considering potential effects that are not politically correct.

Section 3

This section includes the usual legal fine print necessary to assure that the memorandum does not violate the constitutional limits imposed on the executive branch.