Researching Federal Executive Orders

This lesson will introduce you to methods of finding and updating federal executive orders. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, and is therefore appropriate for any student or legal professional who needs to learn how to research federal executive orders. Knowledge of the C.F.R. and the Federal Register is helpful for understanding this lesson.

Students may wish to complete the CALI Lesson, Rulemaking: Federal Register and CFR, prior to using this lesson.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, the student will be able to:

1. Define what executive orders are.
2. Locate indexes and databases to use to research federal executive orders by subject.
3. Describe where to find the texts of federal executive orders issued from 1936 on.
4. Demonstrate how to update a federal executive order to make sure it is still good law.