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- Executive orders are presidential directives that are different from statutes passed by Congress
- An executive order is usually aimed at the Executive Branch and not at creating a new statute
- Courts have tested executive order authority in major cases
- Executive orders are numbered and published through a defined federal process
- Executive orders are published in the Federal Register and compiled in Title 3 of the CFR
- Presidential order is a broad phrase that can include documents other than executive orders
- How executive orders can be changed is usually through revocation amendment or later legal developments
- How many executive orders exist depends on what is being counted
- National Archives tables cover executive orders through January 19 2017 and later orders are tracked elsewhere
- FederalRegister.gov lists executive orders after 2017 but its website is informational
- Most executive orders is a question that is usually answered by comparing presidential totals
- Executive orders are often discussed with politics but their legal effect is usually tested by authority and process
- Sources
Key Facts
- Federal level: Executive orders are official documents, numbered consecutively, through which the President manages the operations of the federal government.
- Federal level: The Office of the Federal Register assigns executive order numbers and publishes executive orders in the Federal Register after they are received.
- Federal level: The text of executive orders beginning with Executive Order 7316 of March 13, 1936 also appears in Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
- Federal and state: Courts can review executive orders in cases properly before them, and a court can invalidate an order that exceeds lawful authority.
- Federal level: Executive orders can be amended or revoked by later executive orders, and they can also be affected by later statutes or other legal changes.
- Federal level: Counting executive orders can be complicated because historical practice included unnumbered orders and some numbered orders used letter designations.
- Federal level: National Archives disposition tables compile executive orders through January 19, 2017, while later executive orders are tracked through FederalRegister.gov.
- Federal level: Different references may show different totals depending on what is included, such as letter-designated orders and how older records were documented.
As of January 2026, the sources below describe executive orders and provide historical counts through different time periods, but totals can change as new orders are issued or as older records are discovered and cataloged.
Executive orders are presidential directives that are different from statutes passed by Congress
In plain terms, an executive order is a written presidential directive that tells parts of the Executive Branch how to manage government operations. The National Archives and Records Administration describes executive orders as official documents, numbered consecutively, through which the President manages the operations of the federal government, as explained in its Executive Orders FAQs.
An executive order is usually aimed at the Executive Branch and not at creating a new statute
Executive orders often interact with existing laws, because federal agencies administer and enforce statutes passed by Congress. At the same time, constitutional separation-of-powers principles limit presidential authority, and the Supreme Court has held that a President may not use an executive order to exercise Congress’s lawmaking power in circumstances where Congress has not authorized the action.
Courts have tested executive order authority in major cases
A frequently cited example is Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), where the Supreme Court held that an executive order directing the seizure and operation of steel mills was not authorized by the Constitution or laws of the United States on the record presented in that case.
Executive orders are numbered and published through a defined federal process
The National Archives explains that after a President signs an executive order, the Office of the Federal Register assigns a number, the order is printed in the Federal Register, and it is compiled in Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Executive orders are published in the Federal Register and compiled in Title 3 of the CFR
The National Archives explains that the text of executive orders appears in the daily Federal Register after an order is signed and received by the Office of the Federal Register, and it also explains that executive orders beginning with Executive Order 7316 of March 13, 1936 appear in Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Presidential order is a broad phrase that can include documents other than executive orders
In everyday speech, “presidential order” can mean many types of presidential directives, not just executive orders. The National Archives presidential documents guide describes multiple types of presidential documents, including executive orders, proclamations, and administrative orders such as memoranda, notices, determinations, letters, and messages, as summarized in its Presidential Documents Guide.
How executive orders can be changed is usually through revocation amendment or later legal developments
Executive orders can be affected by later presidential actions, and many executive orders are amended or revoked over time. The National Archives also notes that disposition table entries can change because new executive orders, other presidential documents, rules, and public laws can amend or otherwise affect earlier orders.
How many executive orders exist depends on what is being counted
When people ask “how many executive orders,” they may mean different things, such as the number issued by one President, the number issued in a specific year, or the historical number of numbered executive orders.
Counting can be complicated because the National Archives notes that totals for an administration can include number-and-letter designated orders (for example, an order with an “-A” suffix), and because older executive actions were not always documented in the same way as modern executive orders.
National Archives tables cover executive orders through January 19 2017 and later orders are tracked elsewhere
The National Archives publishes an executive orders disposition tables historical index and notes that it covers executive orders through January 19, 2017, while executive orders beginning January 20, 2017 are available on FederalRegister.gov. That index also states that Barack Obama issued 276 executive orders between 2009 and 2017, as shown on the Executive Orders Disposition Tables Historical Index.
FederalRegister.gov lists executive orders after 2017 but its website is informational
The Federal Register’s executive orders page presents executive order listings and links to official PDFs on govinfo.gov, and it describes the site as an unofficial informational resource unless and until it is granted official legal status by regulation, as stated on the Federal Register executive orders page.
Most executive orders is a question that is usually answered by comparing presidential totals
Different sources present slightly different historical tallies depending on what is counted. One widely used research compilation is the American Presidency Project, which provides totals of executive orders by President and discusses historical recordkeeping practices that can affect counts.
| President | Executive orders total in this reference |
|---|---|
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 3,726 |
| Woodrow Wilson | 1,803 |
| Calvin Coolidge | 1,203 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 1,081 |
| Herbert Hoover | 1,003 |
Executive orders are often discussed with politics but their legal effect is usually tested by authority and process
Public debate about executive orders often focuses on speed and policy impact, but the legal questions commonly turn on whether an order fits within constitutional and statutory authority, how it is implemented by agencies, and whether it is challenged and reviewed in court in a case that is properly before the judiciary.
