Executive Order 13209: Amendment to Executive Order 13183, Establishment of the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status
President: George W. Bush
Extended the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status reporting deadline by three months, from May 1 to August 1, 2001.
Status: Superseded. Is Executive Order 13209 still in effect? No. Executive Order 13209 was superseded. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 13209 do?
The order assigned these duties: President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status — Continue its interagency review and recommendations; Task Force — Report to the President.
Before and after
Before the order
EO 13183 required an interagency task force to clarify constitutionally available status options and report by May 1, 2001.
After the order
The deadline moved to August 2001, but the publicly documented first task-force report appeared in December 2005 after EO 13319 restructured the group and replaced the fixed deadline with reports at least every two years.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status | Continue its interagency review and recommendations | Through the revised deadline |
| Task Force | Report to the President | August 1, 2001 |
| Cabinet departments and White House intergovernmental staff | Participate under EO 13183’s existing structure | Ongoing under the parent order |
What happened next
EO 13209 signed.
EO 13209 moved the report deadline from May 1 to August 1.
EO 13319 restructured the task force and required reports as needed, but at least every two years, superseding the one-time date.
The Bush task force issued its first public report.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The task force could advise the President and Congress but could not itself change Puerto Rico’s territorial status; Congress’s Article IV authority and any enacted federal law remained controlling. No order-specific court judgment was located. Later reports reflect task-force analysis, not a legally binding status determination.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- Bush White House archive — signed action (opens in a new tab) Official record
- Justice Department — 2007 task-force report (opens in a new tab) Official record
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on October 2, 2026. How we research →