Executive Order 14391: Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act

The President signed Executive Order 14391 on March 13, 2026, changing which officials may use certain powers under the Defense Production Act and clarifying when agency leaders must recommend action to the President.

The order, published in the Federal Register on March 18, 2026, amends Executive Order 13603 of March 16, 2012, titled National Defense Resources Preparedness. That 2012 order assigns some presidential authorities under the Defense Production Act to heads of executive departments and agencies. Executive Order 14391 also clarifies part of Executive Order 14156 of January 20, 2025, titled Declaring a National Energy Emergency.

The March order revises section 203 of the 2012 order. Where that section named only the Secretary of Commerce, it now names the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Energy. The order says each secretary may use the delegated authority on their own, apart from the other.

Under the clarification, an agency head must recommend a step to the President under the energy emergency order only when the power to take that step rests with the President alone and has not been delegated. The order says no recommendation is required when the agency head already holds the authority through the 2012 order or another presidential delegation.

The order says it does not reduce authority that law gives an agency or its head, and it does not change how the Director of the Office of Management and Budget handles budget, administrative, or legislative proposals. It is to be carried out in line with law and only if money has been appropriated. It states that it creates no right or benefit that any party can enforce in court against the United States, its agencies, or its employees.

The order does not set a separate effective date or a deadline for agencies. It says the Department of Energy will pay the cost of publishing the order.