Talk:List of United States federal executive orders

Overhaul
I am overhauling this article, i plan to reorganize by president instead of decade, and will be listing ALL of the executive orders from the time they started to be numbered onwards. thoughts? Basejumper123 (talk) 03:16, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Organizing by president seems very logical. I doubt we could fit all of the orders issued on a single page, and many of them are not worth listing (recognition of some hometown hero and the like). We should focus on getting the most important orders first, and working our way down towards the rest. bd2412  T 04:01, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I am doing the archival work starting with bush and listing backwards. I think, although the task is daunting, that it is possible to list all of the orders, eventually it may become nessasary to split the orders onto pages specific to presidents Basejumper123 (talk) 02:07, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
 * It will have to subdivided further than that if we are to have them all! Perhaps by year. bd2412  T 03:17, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Federal Register
As work of the US government, these works are in the public domain and i will be gathering text and dates from their website. citations to follow Basejumper123 (talk) 03:42, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikisource links
I'm dubious about the Wikisource links - if we have an article on an executive order, it is likely to contain information beyond the text of the order itself. We should go in house first, before going to Wikisource. bd2412 T 03:25, 24 December 2007 (UTC)


 * There is currently some duplication of effort - for example, compare the last section to s:Author:Barack_Obama/Executive_orders. I'm not sure which is the best way to go about this.  We could:


 * 1) Strive to make this article as long and complete a list as possible, providing Wikisource links wherever Wikipedia links are unavailable, splitting it as it grows according to the various presidencies.  One problem with this is that the Wikipedia links are lost among a sea of Wikisource links, and care would need to be taken to spot new Wikipedia articles on particular orders not yet indexed.  The main problem is that although Wikipedia-specific resources are indexed that way, they are virtually unnoticed.
 * 2) Do as above, but provide an extra Wikipedia link for each order (usually red).  Ugly, but no links are missed, and it is easier to spot orders with Wikipedia content available.
 * 3) Do as in the first two cases, but prune the list to "important" executive orders, as judged by someone editing this article, if a source can be found to support such a list.  This yields fewer redlinks or Wikisource substitutions but not zero, and perhaps encourages someone to start new articles on those particular entries.
 * 4) List only those executive orders for which someone has written a Wikipedia article - and ideally, list all such orders.  In this way the article creation and deletion processes solely determine what belongs on the list.  A blue Wikipedia link can be given for every article.  At the start of sections for each president we then prominently display a link to a Wikisource article like s:Author:Barack_Obama/Executive_orders where all orders can be browsed.


 * The current situation is basically an unsourced or haphazard implementation of #3. I favor either #2 or #4, without a strong preference between them.  I'd encourage people to make a vote of this discussion if they wish. Mike Serfas (talk) 02:43, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Louisiana Purchase
I deleted the Louisiana Purchase link from the 1800s section. Jefferson signed a treaty with France, as is the president's authority under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. The US Senate then ratified the treaty to bring it into effect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ztexz (talk • contribs) 18:38, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Per White House (WH), resource UPI
WH: Obama to use executive authority more published Oct. 24, 2011 at 5:17 PM by United Press International 97.87.29.188 (talk) 22:48, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Wikilink Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
Wikilink Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance 97.87.29.188 (talk) 21:19, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Why? It's not known as that, and the WP:CONSENSUS seems to be that executive orders are linked as Executive Order nnnnn.  — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 14:41, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

Adding title to EO 13606 causing formatting trouble.
Would anyone know why when I add the title to EO 13606, "Blocking the Property and Suspending Entry into the United States of Certain Persons with Respect to Grave Human Rights Abuses by the Governments of Iran and Syria via Information Technology," it changes the formatting of the table (specifically the column widths)? Can this be avoided? Thanks, Startswithj (talk) 04:12, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

Should the article and tables include presidential memoranda?
See:

At bare minimum, the article should mention this alternative to executive orders. (The article asserts the two are essentially equivalent; I'd really like to see more discussion of the assertion, elsewhere.) -- John Broughton (♫♫) 23:21, 17 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Is this the reason why different sources have completely different number for each president? When looking here http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php, which is where the data for the top table on this page comes from, we have the following totals:


 * Clinton 364
 * Bush 291


 * And going by the https://www.federalregister.gov/executive-orders, which is where the data for the tables at the bottom comes from:


 * Clinton 308
 * Bush 290


 * That's quite a discrepancy. Also none of the EO numbers match between the two sources. Which one of the sources has the real factual data? Cheers! Meishern (talk) 11:51, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Support. Presidential memoranda are effectively equivalent to executive orders (see this link), and should be included on the same table and in the same article, although separated (such as in a separate column). This article could thus be List of United States federal executive orders and presidential memoranda.


 * They are technically different however, and if they are included in this article the title should be changed and the numbers should be listed separately as you mentioned. People are directly adding it to the "Executive Orders" count with no clarification, which is incorrect and is introducing false information to the page.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.46.228.117 (talk) 01:30, 26 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Aren't presidential letters basically the same thing as memoranda? If we are listing memoranda, why not letters?LedRush (talk) 04:26, 27 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Presidential Letters are the old term for Presidential Memoranda, they are not just "basically" the same thing, but precisely the same thing. 128.186.121.32 (talk) 17:13, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
 * So why aren't they included in the table?LedRush (talk) 20:43, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

Please note that executive orders and presidential memoranda are not the same thing.
Misleading news reports have caused multiple editors to overreport the number of executive orders Trump has issued. As of right now there are 5 listed on whitehouse.gov.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders

He apparently signed two more on Friday but the site has not been updated. Please do not confuse memoranda with executive orders. Gigs (talk) 06:31, 29 January 2017 (UTC)
 * At this point I'm on the edge of violating wp:3rr so I self-reverted to the incorrect numbers. I have requested temporary full page protection.  Gigs (talk) 08:36, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

Link to Obama's executive orders is no longer valid
The White House web site has now changed with the new Trump administration in place. The link provided at the end of the page to "Obama's Executive Orders" is no longer valid. The page is locked currently so I am leaving a note instead of making a correction.

Semi-protected edit request on 30 January 2017
Martin Van Buren is incorrect listed as having been in office 8 years. In fact, he served 1 full term (4 years, from 1837-1841). This means his "orders per year" # is incorrect as well. Boazmunro (talk) 00:38, 30 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done Stickee (talk) 00:43, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 January 2017
Lastest 'updated' figures for Trump signed executive orders are obviously & egregiously wrong. Suggest factual review. 13hhartman (talk) 18:42, 30 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done Done but this will have to be changed shortly as the WH site is updated. Sir Joseph (talk) 18:58, 30 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I swear there was 8 when I looked earlier. There must have been a duplicate entry that they have since taken down.  Thanks for fixing it.  13hhartman, please note that executive orders are not the same as executive actions, which includes both memoranda and orders.  This confusion (mostly the media's fault) is the reason it's semi-protected.  Gigs (talk) 22:57, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 31 January 2017
Fix calculation error(starting executive number - final executive number + 1 gives 276 instead of 275) for the number of executive order under Obama Administration 103.60.175.51 (talk) 09:54, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
 * ✅ Gigs (talk) 20:56, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 31 January 2017
I suggest not listing Donald Trump as having 300 executive orders per day. I don't know who's math that is, but you can't base it on a 2 week long term. That's biased, and it's making mere fun out of a supposedly factual article. 2601:2C4:100:D221:B06C:42ED:4445:BCD4 (talk) 21:04, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
 * It's per-year not per-day. I recalculated it to 212.12.  We could do something like hide it until a president has been in office for at least 6 months to make the number more representative of a normal rate.  Gigs (talk) 20:50, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and did it, we'll see if people are OK with it. Gigs (talk) 21:00, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 31 January 2017
Remove the column "Executive Orders Per Year" Jjilmary (talk) 21:42, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I assume you ask this because of Trump's rate appearing inflated due to the short time in office. I have temporarily removed Trump's per-year number with a note that there is insufficient data for a meaningful per-year rate. Gigs (talk) 21:01, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Orders Per Year Request
I understand that listing orders per year could be construed as biased regarding president Trump. However, given that the chart lists data including "years in office" and "total orders", it is my opinion that Trump's orders per year should be listed as well, as these three pieces of data listed together provide a complete picture of where the "orders per year" number comes from.

Instead of just placing an asterisk in the relevant box on the chart, I would suggest placing the actual calculated value, with an asterisk behind it. The asterisk points to the explanation below, noting that this number maybe subject to daily fluctuation and is somewhat preliminary in nature. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:30A:2C88:35C0:A8A1:AB9F:503C:3C62 (talk) 01:30, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
 * There's no way to make everyone happy with that one.  It's a temporary problem since in a few months we could probably have a reasonable calculated value.   I think leaving it with a note is fine for now, and maybe in 6 months we can put the real number with no note. Gigs (talk) 04:37, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * It's a bit of a "how long is a string" kind of metric. Looking at the rates again, they seem to have averaged out more in the common range of other US Presidents. So even in a few weeks might be OK to reinstate the metric, without any notes. Or even sooner? + m t  06:21, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * If the numbers are looking more realistic then feel free to do it sooner. Gigs (talk) 19:44, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Sure, done. It's currently the 8th highest rate, and dropping. + m t  20:21, 20 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Is there any way to get wikipedia to do the math itself? i.e., human enters and updates number of executive orders as they come, while displayed is (executive order count) / (number of days between jan 20th, 2017 and the present date x 365 days per year) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.57.180.114 (talk) 19:45, 10 June 2017 (UTC)
 * This page is already doing what you are describing, with date difference and #expr statements. Take a look under the hood to see how it's done. + m t  03:23, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

Value for Biden orders per year is incorrect - it is showing orders*years instead of orders/years.] As less than one year is complete the value would be greater than the number of orders signed, not less as is shown. 82.71.19.244 (talk) 06:40, 27 November 2021 (UTC)

Possible mistake?
Currently, the article lists the last executive order signed by President Trump as 13984, and the first executive order signed by President Biden as 13982. I can't find any more info on this, but it... doesn't seem right, does it? Is this a mistake in the article, or were they actually numbered like this? A50E10AN500ER (talk) 20:26, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
 * White House lists 13982 as signed by DJT and 13985 as the first signed by JRB. Probably an editing error from the last-minute Trump EOs causing confusion. Technically the last is also wrong because the numbering is not clear, but I've aligned it with practice now. 79.242.146.239 (talk) 22:33, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

Executive Orders vs Executive actions
The 30-and-higher number is incorrect at this time. That's the sum of all executive actions signed by JRB. This page considers only Executive Orders. Please make sure to keep that correct. 79.242.146.239 (talk) 18:40, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

Wrong Calculation
For Joe Biden, the calculation of the number of executive orders per year is incorrect. This number is arrived at by dividing the number of executive orders by the number of years in office. But for some reason, whoever made the calculations instead multiplied the 2 numbers together for Joe Biden. Please correct it. 135.180.140.33 (talk) 01:09, 29 November 2021 (UTC)
 * The equation only needed to update the total number of executive orders. Fixed now. + m t  20:28, 21 December 2021 (UTC)