The National Defense Resources Preparedness executive order ( Executive Order 13603) is an order of the President of the United States, signed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

on March 16, 2012. The purpose of this

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

is to delegate authority and address national defense resource policies and programs under the

Defense Production Act of 1950 The Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 () is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950, in response to the start of the Korean War.Congressional Research ServiceThe Defense Production Act of 1950: History, Authorities, and Con ...

. Executive Order 13603 provides the framework and authority for the allocation or appropriation of resources, materials, and services to promote national defense. A number of

viral email A viral email (also known as a "pass-along email") is an email which rapidly propagates from person to person, generally in a word-of-mouth manner. It is an example of a viral phenomenon, which is used for profit in viral marketing, but can also ...

s claimed that the executive order "creates

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

."Ben Finley
Obama's Executive Orders
FactCheck.org,

Annenberg Public Policy Center The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) is a center for the study of public policy at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. It has offices in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, where the University of Pennsy ...

(September 25, 2012). Similar claims were repeated by Texas congresswoman

Kay Granger Norvell Kay Granger (born January 18, 1943) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Texas's 12th congressional district from 1997 to 2025. A Republican Party (United States), Re ...

of Texas in a constituent newsletter; she later retracted her statements. In reality, the order updated long-existing directives that have been issued ever since the

Truman administration Harry S. Truman's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 33rd president of the United States began on April 12, 1945, upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and ended on January 20, 1953. He had been Vice President ...

. Such presidential directives update the resources covered under the

Defense Production Act The Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 () is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950, in response to the start of the Korean War.Congressional Research ServiceThe Defense Production Act of 1950: History, Authorities, and Con ...

, which was enacted in the 1950s and is reauthorized by Congress every few years. The act "allows presidents to delegate authority to various federal departments and agencies. For example, Obama's order authorizes the secretaries of Defense and the Interior 'to encourage the exploration, development, and mining of strategic and critical materials and other materials.'" The fact-checking website

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noted: In particular, this executive order removes the name of the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

from previous orders, and replaces it with references to branches of the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

, in order to bring the previous orders up to date with changes in the structure of the Federal Government.

References

{{reflist Executive orders of Barack Obama 2012 in American politics 2012 in American law