The NJSBA Legal and Labor Relations department is beginning a series of articles on presidential executive orders that potentially touch upon K-12 education in New Jersey.  This information is provided purely for informational purposes and is not meant to advise or instruct school districts to take any particular action based on these materials.

Let us begin with a quick introduction to what presidential executive orders (EOs) are, and what they are not.

It is well settled that Article II of the United States Constitution provides presidents with the implied authority to issue EOs.  While the Constitution does not explicitly use the term EO or define the term, it does provide that the “the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States,” and “he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” U.S. Const. Article II, Sections 1 and 3. 

According to the American Bar Association, “An executive order is a signed, written, and published directive from the President of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. They are numbered consecutively, so executive orders may be referenced by their assigned number, or their topic.”

“Executive orders are not legislation,” the Bar Association says. “They require no approval from Congress, and Congress cannot simply overturn them. Congress may pass legislation that might make it difficult, or even impossible, to carry out the order, such as removing funding. Only a sitting U.S. President may overturn an existing executive order by issuing another executive order to that effect.” 

According to the Federal Judicial Center, “Courts may strike down executive orders not only on the grounds that the president lacked authority to issue them but also in cases where the order is found to be unconstitutional in substance.”

Executive Orders Touching on K-12 Education

Executive Order 14148

“Initial Recission of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” signed Jan. 20, 2025.

This EO rescinded 78 previous Executive Orders on a variety of topics including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), open borders, and what was called climate extremism. EO 14148 ordered the heads of executive agencies to “take immediate steps to end Federal Implementation of unlawful and radical DEI ideology.” Additionally, the EO ordered,

“(b) The Director of the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) shall review all Federal Government actions taken pursuant to the orders, memoranda, and proclamations listed in section 2 of this order and take necessary steps to rescind, replace, or amend such actions as appropriate. Within 45 days of the date of this order, the Director of the DPC and the Director of the NEC shall submit to the President an additional list of orders, memoranda, and proclamations issued by the prior administration that should be rescinded, as well as a list of replacement orders, memoranda, or proclamations, to increase American prosperity.”

This EO is a broad document that seeks the rescission of a variety of Executive Orders issued by previous administrations. The impact of such rescissions is yet to be seen and will be a matter to watch closely.

The full text of EO 14148 can be found here.

Executive Order 14151

“Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” signed Jan. 20, 2025.

The stated purpose of EO 14151 is to end, what the order deems to be “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” supported by the previous administration. As such, this order has mandated, among other tasks:

“(a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear. To carry out this directive, the Director of OPM, with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested, shall review and revise, as appropriate, all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs to comply with this order. Federal employment practices, including Federal employee performance reviews, shall reward individual initiative, skills, performance, and hard work and shall not under any circumstances consider DEI or DEIA factors, goals, policies, mandates, or requirements.”

The full text of E0 14151 can be found here.

Please be aware that the EO’s referenced in this summary are in various stages of appeal and discussion, and this is a constantly evolving area. As such, discussion with your board attorney is vital to your district acting in the best interest of the students and within the law.  Please also be mindful that presidential EO’s speak to matters referencing federal executive agencies, and unless otherwise stated, the state laws of New Jersey and supporting regulations remain intact and operational.

Find Out More

Click on the additional resources listed below for more information about presidential Executive Orders.

White House
A list of Executive Orders issued by the current administration are available as PDFs from the White House press office.

National Archives and Records Administration
Archive of all things related to the U.S. government, the National Archives maintains a digital index of Executive Orders that is searchable by date, number, or topic. Orders may be viewed as PDFs or text, in the Federal Register, or within Title 3 of the U.S. Code.

American Presidency Project
An archive maintained by the University of California Santa Barbara includes text of almost all executive orders, searchable by year of issue back to the early nineteenth century.

United States Federal Register
The Federal Register is the official home of presidential Executive Orders.

A History of Executive Orders and Proclamations:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Orders_and_Proclamations#1