Defense and national security · Veterans

Executive Order 13540: Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development

President: Barack Obama

Created an interagency task force to improve federal support contracting and access to capital for veteran-owned small businesses.

Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 13540 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 13540 remains operative. Executive Order 14354, signed September 29, 2025, expressly continued its Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development until September 30, 2027. That is a continuation of the SBA-led task force, not a revocation. Sources: Current Federal Register executive order disposition table: 2010; Executive Order 13540: signed Federal Register text; Executive Order 14354, September 29, 2025.

What does Executive Order 13540 do?

EO 13540 established a task force inside the Small Business Administration (SBA), chaired by its Administrator, to coordinate federal support for small businesses owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans. Its work was narrower than creating a new grant or a guaranteed contract. The order told the group to consult veterans’ organizations, coordinate agency activity and develop proposals on capital, procurement, certification, paperwork, training and counseling. It required a report to the President within one year of the first meeting and annually thereafter. The task force brought together senior representatives from Treasury, Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, the Office of Management and Budget, SBA and the General Services Administration, plus four representatives of veterans’ or military organizations.

Administration position: The order coordinates assistance; it does not guarantee a contract, loan or certification.
SignedApril 26, 2010
ChairSBA Administrator
ReportingWithin one year and annually

Before and after

Before the order

Congress had already set veteran-business procurement goals and provided for interagency cooperation. A 2008 law authorized the task force, and a Government Accountability Office review urged SBA to convene it. The order supplied the operating structure and assigned SBA the chair and administrative support; it did not create the underlying contracting preference.

After the order

The task force examined access to loans, surety bonds and franchising; matching veteran-owned firms with federal opportunities and mentor-protégé help; the integrity of veteran-business certifications; burdensome paperwork; and training and counseling. These were subjects for coordinated proposals, not promises that each applicant would receive financing or a contract.

SBA told the Government Accountability Office that the group held an organizational meeting in September 2010 and its first public meeting in October. SBA hosts reports covering subsequent fiscal years and published a 2026 meeting notice under EO 13540. Those records establish continuing task-force activity; they do not by themselves show that every proposal was adopted or that the order caused every later veteran-business program.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
SBAChair the task force and administer veteran programsContinuing
AgenciesCoordinate contracting capital and training policyContinuing framework
Task forceSubmit recommendationsPeriodic

What happened next

EO 13540 established the SBA-led task force.

Executive Order 14354 expressly continued the Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development until September 30, 2027. Official source.

SBA published a Federal Register notice for another task-force meeting under EO 13540.