Types of Presidential Documents

The Types of Presidential Documents

In the US Constitution, Article II is about the Executive Branch and specifically about the President.
In the Federal Register, in the advanced search function, there are 6 different kinds of Presidential Documents.



What needs to be published in the Federal Register is covered under 44 USC 1505 and for any Presidential Document that has general applicability and legal effect, these have to be published unless they are withheld for national security reasons.  Additionally, in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), title 3 is the President.
Here is graph of the recent presidents and what kinds of documents they have issued.  I have taken a straight-line projection for the current President for 8 years (2 terms) for the purposes of comparison with the other presidents because they all had 2 terms.

Determinations

These documents are essentially records of decisions.  I have reviewed all of the Presidential Determinations under the current president here.

Executive Orders

These are general type documents, this blog has reviewed all of the Executive Orders that have been signed by the current President.  There is a collection under title 3 of the CFR of all of the Executive Orders since they effectively carry the weight of law.

Memoranda

These are memoranda which include a notice to issue them in the Federal Register.  In some cases, these memoranda document delegations of authority allowed by law but in order to be effective, they have to be announced.

Notices

As required by some laws, the President must provide a notice for something or other and that these notices must be issued in the Federal Register.

Proclamations

The title suggests that these are ceremonial and often they are.  But these are equivalent to Executive Orders and my intention is to cover some of the more consequential ones in this blog.

Presidential Orders

These appear to be rarely used and it is not at all clear how these would be different from Executive Orders.  In fact, Clinton never issued one in the Federal Register, Bush, Jr. issued 3, Obama issued 5 and Trump has issued 2:

• Presidential Order of May 23, 2017 regarding Sequestration regarding section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (2 USC 901a)
• Presidential Order of September 13, 2017 regarding Lattice Semiconductor.  This Presidential Order prohibits a planned purchase of Lattice Semiconductor by China Venture Capital Fund.

Additional requirements for transparency

1 CFR 10 is entitled "Presidential Papers" and this regulation requires that quite a bit of presidential activity has to be issued on a daily basis.  This includes
(a) The text of the publication consists of oral statements by the President or of writing subscribed by the President, and selected from transcripts or text issued by the Office of the White House Press Secretary, including—
(1) Communications to Congress;
(2) Public addresses and remarks;
(3) News conferences and interviews;
(4) Public messages and letters;
(5) Statements released on miscellaneous subjects; and
(6) Formal executive documents promulgated in accordance with law.
(b) In addition, each publication includes selections, either in full text or ancillary form, from the following groups of documents, when issued by the Press Office.
(1) Announcements of Presidential appointments and nominations;
(2) White House statements and announcements on miscellaneous subjects;
(3) Statements by the Press Secretary or Deputy Press Secretary;
(4) Statements and news conferences by senior administration officials; and
(5) Fact sheets.
Further, 1 CFR 19 has some fascinating requirements for Executive Orders and Proclamations.  These need to be provided in paper form to the agency that actually issues documents in the Federal Register.  Here, someone should have reason to request a revision to rulemaking to allow for an all electronic process.