Executive Order 14378 explained · Executive Order · Amended
Continuance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council
Signed: 2026-01-23 Published: 2026-01-29 Federal Register document: 2026-01872
Agencies: Executive Office of the President
Federal Register notes (as of 2026-10-19): See: EO 14181, January 24, 2025 Superseded by (in part): EO 14397, March 24, 2026 Amended by: EO 14397 (per that order's Federal Register notes)
What Executive Order 14378 says
Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 19 (Thursday, January 29, 2026) [Federal Register Volume 91, Number 19 (Thursday, January 29, 2026)] [Presidential Documents] [Pages 3993-3994] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-01872] Presidential Documents Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2026 / Presidential Documents [[Page 3993]] Executive Order 14378 of January 23, 2026 Continuance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and consistent with chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act), it is hereby ordered: Section 1. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council, created by Executive Order 14180 of January 24, 2025 (Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency), is continued until March 25, 2026. Sec. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that are applicable to the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council shall be performed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in accordance with the regulations, guidelines, and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services. Sec. 3. This...
Opening of the official text; read it in full in the Federal Register.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Constitutionally sound
Graded 2026-10-08
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
Continuance of an advisory FEMA Review Council under existing statutory authority, with no new powers, mandates, rights restrictions, or takings. Constitutional executive oversight function.
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✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
The President acts under Article II, Section 1 vesting of executive power and Article II, Section 3 duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, implementing a statute passed under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 (Necessary and Proper Clause) - chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Continuing an advisory council to assess FEMA and delegating Fede… -
✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
The order creates no restriction on speech, religion, press, assembly, arms, searches, trial rights, or other protections in the first ten Amendments. It merely continues an advisory council under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. No First Amendment or Fourth Amendment or other Bill of Rights interest is implicated. -
✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
The order directs only the executive branch to continue the SI-supported Review Council. It imposes no obligation, prohibition, mandate, or penalty on any person's body, property, speech, labor, or belief. No private conduct is restricted, so no compelling justification is required. -
✓ Passes · Decentralization
The subject is internal review of an existing federal agency (FEMA). Under the Tenth Amendment, lower levels cannot reform federal agency administration; the minimum necessary level for this oversight function is federal. The order creates no new regulatory power, mandates no state or local compliance, and does not consolidate new decision-making upward - it only extends an advisory body to March … -
✓ Passes · Due process and takings
No liberty or property deprivation, no seizure, no fine, no criminal process, and no taking occurs. Section 4(c) expressly disclaims creation of any enforceable right or benefit, and Section 4(b) requires implementation consistent with applicable law and appropriations. No Fifth Amendment procedural, substantive due process, or Takings Clause issue is present.
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