executive order

noun

: regulation sense 2b

Examples of executive order in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order directing that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate and energy spending should flow to communities that have been heavily polluted or have historically lacked public investment. —Rebecca Redelmeier, NPR, 4 May 2024

The investment review panel was established in 1975 through an executive order by President Gerald R. Ford amid concerns about investments that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries were making in American portfolio assets, according to the Congressional Research Service. —Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 3 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

executive order

noun

: an order issued by a government's executive on the basis of authority specifically granted to the executive branch (as by the U.S. Constitution or a congressional act)

the National Security Agency was created by an executive order

compare proclamation, statute

Note: An executive order from the president does not have the force of law until it is printed in the Federal Register.