INSIGHTi
The Biden Administration’s Initial
Presidential Directives in Context
February 3, 2021
The beginning of the Biden Administration has brought a steady stream of presidential directives that
have drawn significant public attention for their speed and range of purposes. A review of the pace with
which recent presidential Administrations issued executive orders shows the Biden Administration issued
more executive orders than its predecessors during the first week of a first term. This Insight provides a
brief overview of activity in the first week of President Joe Biden’s term and what it might mean for the
rest of his Administration.
What Are Presidential Directives?
Presidential directives are tools Presidents use to announce administration policy and make declarations
in their roles as leader of the executive branch, commander in chief of the Armed Forces, and head of
state. Directives include wel -known documents, such as executive orders and proclamations, as wel as a
variety of less wel -known documents, including memoranda, notices, and decisions. While there are
some legal y relevant differences among the types of directives, especial y related to whether they must
be published in the Federal Register, in most cases the form of the directive is not as clear or legal y
significant as it might appear, especial y in comparison to its content.
Presidential directives have the force and effect of law if they are based on power granted by the U.S.
Constitution, or delegated by Congress, to the President. However, because they are an exercise of the
authority of the presidency, existing directives can be, and frequently are, modified or revoked across
Administrations to reflect new or evolving priorities and policies. Such actions are especial y likely to
occur when a new President takes office. Also, if the President is acting under a grant of authority from
Congress, Congress may legislate to alter that authority, prevent the implementation of a directive, or
codify a directive in statute.
Some types of directives, such as executive orders and proclamations, are published in the Federal
Register and archived on its website. Al of the unclassified directives issued by the Biden Administration
to date are currently available on the White House website. These actions have received significant
attention and may raise a variety of legal and policy questions. The purpose of this Insight is to describe
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this activity general y and not provide details for individual orders. CRS has other products available
discussing the content of some of these actions.
What Has the Biden Administration Done So Far?
President Biden’s team has offered actions that include executive orders, proclamations, and memoranda.
During its first week in office, the Biden Administration issued at least 37 presidential actions (as the
Administration refers to them), including 24 executive orders, four proclamations, and nine memoranda
establishing Administration policy. These presidential directives cover a variety of issue areas, including
the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration, the census, and government operations,
and many explicitly revoke or supersede executive orders issued during the Trump Administration.
While the White House website appears to include al non-classified directives issued by President Biden
from January 20, 2021, to January 27, 2021, the Administration may have issued other classified
directives that are not publicly available and thus not identified.
How Does the Biden Administration Compare to Its
Predecessors?
The Biden Administration has exceeded any of its recent predecessors in the number of executive orders
issued during the first week of its first term, as reflected in Table 1. In addition, President Biden signed
more orders in his first week than Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama signed in their first 100
days in office. While it may be possible to identify some presidential actions other than executive orders
from previous Administrations, it would be difficult to compare across Administrations due to differences
in classification and reporting of such actions.
Table 1. Executive Orders During First Year of New Presidential Administrations
2001-2021
First Week
First 100 Days
First Year
Joe Biden
24
n/a
n/a
Donald Trump
5
33
58
Barack Obama
5
19
41
George W. Bush
0
12
56
Source: Federal Register, “Executive Orders,” https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders.
Notes: The table includes only those actions identified as executive orders in the Federal Register. The National Archives
and Records Administration maintains an online archive of executive orders that begins in 1994.
Despite this pace, it is not entirely clear how the Biden Administration wil compare to other
Administrations at the 100-day milestone and one-year milestone. The unique circumstances attending the
start of the Biden Administration, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the change between political
parties holding the presidency, may be major drivers of the number of directives issued to date. If so, a
fast start may not signal how the Biden Administration wil use directives in the future. How the
Administration continues to use presidential directives in the coming months as the President continues to
advance his legislative and policy agenda could be more tel ing. Yet another possible factor is the extent
to which President Biden wil be able to advance his agenda through legislation. If that proves difficult in
Congress, the Administration may be more open to executive action on some issues.
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Just as it is difficult to guess how often President Biden might issue presidential directives over the course
of his time in office, it is also unclear how much effect those actions might have on government policy.
While President Biden has made clear changes to federal policy already, many of those actions revoked
Trump Administration policies or involved policy areas with long histories of presidential action.
Therefore, a major question among observers that remains unanswered is whether President Biden’s use
of presidential directives wil push the boundaries of presidential power.
Author Information
Ben Wilhelm
Analyst in Government Organization and Management
Disclaimer
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