Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 13299: Interagency Group on Insular Areas

President: George W. Bush

Established an interagency group to coordinate federal policy affecting U.S. territories and freely associated states.

Status: Superseded. Is Executive Order 13299 still in effect? No. Executive Order 13299 was superseded. See Federal Register record. EO 13537 superseded this order.

What does Executive Order 13299 do?

The order assigned these duties: Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs and participating federal agencies — Established an interagency group to coordinate federal policy affecting U.S. territories and freely associated states.

Checked the interagency group’s creation and later disposition against EO 13537 and the Federal Register record. EO 13537 superseded the 2003 group framework in 2010.

Administration position: The order’s policy rationale is described in its text and administration records. Implementation and legal observations below are based on the cited official sources.
SignedMay 8, 2003
IssuerPresident George W. Bush
Lead agencies or officialsDepartment of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs and participating federal agencies
Express timingGroup established immediately; meetings and recommendations as convened

Before and after

Before the order

Territorial and insular policy was coordinated through agency-specific processes without the group specified by this order.

After the order

The group supported coordination on infrastructure, economic development and federal programs; later administrations used successor interagency arrangements. EO 13537 superseded this interagency-group framework in 2010.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs and participating federal agenciesEstablished an interagency group to coordinate federal policy affecting U.S. territories and freely associated states.Group established immediately; meetings and recommendations as convened

What happened next

EO 13299 signed.

2003–09 — The group coordinated agency activity and recommendations for insular areas; later administrative structures carried forward similar work.

EO 13537 superseded the EO 13299 interagency group framework.