Defense and national security

Executive Order 13603: National Defense Resources Preparedness

President: Barack Obama

Assigned federal officials responsibility for industrial priorities, allocations, preparedness and emergency resource coordination.

Status: In effect as amended by EO 14391.

Is Executive Order 13603 still in effect? Yes, as amended by EO 14391.

What does Executive Order 13603 do?

EO 13603 is the principal executive delegation for using the Defense Production Act across food, energy, health, transportation, water and industrial resources. It distributes priorities and allocations powers among department heads, assigns FEMA central coordination and provides rules for voluntary agreements, workforce preparedness and the National Defense Executive Reserve. A 2026 amendment added independent Energy Department authority for certain industrial resources.

Administration position: The order does not itself seize private property or declare martial law; individual actions require DPA authority, findings, process and any required compensation.
SignedMarch 16, 2012
Statutory baseDefense Production Act of 1950
Central coordinatorSecretary of Homeland Security through FEMA

Before and after

Before the order

EO 12919 and later amendments allocated DPA preparedness functions under an older structure.

After the order

EO 13603 modernized the delegations and became the basis for current priorities and allocations systems.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Resource departmentsIssue rated orders and allocations within assigned sectorsContinuing
FEMACoordinate plans guidance and interagency workContinuing
Defense Production Act CommitteeAdvise and report on use of authoritiesContinuing

What happened next

EO 13603 issued and EO 12919 was revoked.

EO 14391 amended the Commerce and Energy delegation.