Executive Order 12919: National Defense Industrial Resources Preparedness
President: Bill Clinton
Allocated Defense Production Act powers across agencies and coordinated them through FEMA; a 2012 order replaced the framework.
Status: Revoked.
Is Executive Order 12919 still in effect? No. Executive Order 13603 revoked EO 12919 on March 16, 2012, replacing its Defense Production Act delegation framework.
What does Executive Order 12919 do?
President Clinton reorganized the executive branch's use of the Defense Production Act rather than declaring that an emergency had begun. The order treated the industrial and technological base as a defense requirement in peacetime as well as during mobilization. Agencies had to identify military, industrial and essential civilian demand, assess suppliers and skilled labor, and prepare to respond to shortages. Manufacturers, contractors and financing institutions could consequently encounter priority-rated contracts or programs to expand productive capacity. Signed order.
Its central mechanism was delegation. Six Cabinet departments received responsibility for priorities and allocations in different resource sectors. Commerce administered the Defense Priorities and Allocations System, while FEMA coordinated the overall program and attempted to resolve disagreements. Defense, Energy and FEMA made the written program determinations required before priority authority could be used. Parts III through VIII separately addressed loans, guarantees, purchase commitments, strategic materials, voluntary agreements, emergency personnel, labor supply and industrial-base information. Signed order.
Before and after
Before the order
The earlier system rested on a collection of orders dating back to the Korean War and later amendments. Section 904 replaced or revoked specified provisions, including EO 10480 and EO 10647, instead of simply adding a new coordination committee. Existing valid actions survived unless inconsistent with the new framework or subsequently changed under proper authority. Signed order.
After the order
Departments now had an explicit division of resource responsibilities and a common FEMA coordination channel. A rated defense contract and a loan to expand production remained distinct tools, with separate statutory conditions. The order also created a National Defense Executive Reserve for emergency executive appointments; activating a unit required a written emergency determination and advance White House notice. Signed order. Sources: EO 13603, section 804: revocation.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture Secretary | Administer priorities and allocations for food, food-resource facilities, domestic farm equipment and fertilizer; cooperate on Treasury foreign-acquisition report. | As required by approved national-defense programs; no fixed deadline. |
| Energy Secretary | Administer energy priorities; determine qualifying energy programs; assist energy supply findings and foreign-acquisition review. | When statutory conditions are met. |
| Health and Human Services Secretary | Administer priorities and allocations for health resources. | As defense requirements arise. |
| Transportation Secretary | Administer priorities and allocations for civil transportation. | As defense requirements arise. |
| Defense Secretary and military department Secretaries | Administer water priorities, approve military programs, manage the DPA Fund, identify critical items, establish industrial-base information system and convene its task force. | Continuous assessment; critical-component report every two years. |
| Commerce Secretary and Bureau of the Census | Administer other-resource priorities and DPAS; coordinate priority-rating delegations, offset reports and industrial-base data. | Annual offset report; urgent priority assistance consistent with need. |
| FEMA Director | Coordinate program plans, resolve allocation disputes, guide and coordinate the Executive Reserve and report to the President. | Periodic reports; disputes handled according to urgency. |
| National Security Council and National Security Adviser | Provide preparedness policy forum; approve implementing guidance and decide unresolved allocation disputes. | As issues arise; receive Reserve activation notice at least 72 hours beforehand. |
| Treasury Secretary | Consult on guarantees and subsidies, make qualifying loans and lead foreign-acquisition and espionage report. | According to Defense Production Act requirements. |
| Export-Import Bank President and Chairman | Exercise financing guarantees and loan authority for qualifying overseas productive capacity. | On qualifying applications; no fixed deadline. |
| Federal Reserve Banks and Board of Governors | Banks act as fiscal agents for guarantees; Board may prescribe guarantee regulations after consultation. | As guarantee programs require. |
| Interior Secretary | Encourage exploration, development and mining of strategic materials with Defense consultation. | When authorized under section 303 of the Act. |
| OMB Director | Receive financing notices and determinations, consult on subsidies and clear annual offset report. | Before relevant financing or report submission. |
| General Services Administrator | Set guidelines for establishing advisory committees and be consulted before their creation. | Before advisory committees are established. |
| Labor Secretary | Assess defense labor supply, develop plans and training, advise procuring agencies, and develop induction/deferment policies. | Continuing assessment and on agency request. |
| Selective Service Director | Assist Labor and Defense with policies on induction and deferment of critical personnel. | As labor plans are developed. |
| National Labor Relations Board and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service | Cooperate on labor-management policy supporting defense programs. | As required; no fixed deadline. |
| State Secretary, United States Trade Representative, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and Director of Central Intelligence | Consult on Commerce offset report; State and intelligence officials also assist Treasury foreign-acquisition reporting as specified. | Annual offset reporting and statutory acquisition reporting. |
| Attorney General | Cooperate in Treasury report on foreign acquisition and industrial espionage. | According to statutory reporting requirements. |
| Other assigned agency heads | Assess defense requirements, use delegated tools lawfully, provide information and train any Executive Reserve units. | Reserve activation notice at least 72 hours in advance; other functions ongoing. |
What happened next
Clinton signed the resource-preparedness framework. Official source
The order was published in the Federal Register. Official source
EO 13603 expressly revoked EO 12919 and replaced the delegation framework. Official source
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The order relied on the Defense Production Act of 1950 and the President's delegation power under 3 U.S.C. 301. These were conditional statutory authorities, not an independent appropriation or a direction to seize all private resources. Civilian-market allocation required the Act's findings and presidential approval; industrial-shortfall financing generally had to identify the shortfall in the federal budget unless a statutory emergency exception applied. Employment-contract priorities were excluded. Section 903 protected the validity of past acts under earlier delegations, and section 905 created no privately enforceable right. The March 16, 2012 replacement by EO 13603 reorganized the delegations; it did not repeal the Defense Production Act. Signed order. Sources: EO 13603, section 804: revocation.
Sources by type
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Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
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