Executive Order 13292
Encyclopedia
Executive Order 13292 was an executive order issued by United States
President George W. Bush
on March 25, 2003, entitled "Further Amendment to Executive Order 12958
, as Amended, Classified National Security Information
." The Executive Order modified the manner in which sensitive information was handled at the time as set out by President Bill Clinton
's 1995 executive order.
Clinton's order set declassification deadlines for classified material and made it harder for politicians to classify information. Bush's order appears to allow much more information to be classified and for longer periods; the wording is hard to decipher in some areas. It also appears to give more power over classification to the Offices of the President and Vice President, but the wording used was not properly defined in the listing of relevant definitions now consolidated into their own section in Part 6 of the Executive Order.
Among the various changes made to the 1995-based regulations, Executive Order 13292 notably:
A more extensive analysis of the changes from the previous executive order was compiled by the group Public Citizen
.
Then-Vice President
Dick Cheney
said in a February 15, 2006, interview, "There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the President, but also includes the Vice President." This was based in the then newly added but undefined and untested wording stipulating the Vice President's ability to exercise classification authority rested “in the performance of [his] executive duties,”. The phrase no longer appears in Executive Order 13526 though the Vice President is directly listed rather than amended in separately via a standard Order.
Byron York
of the National Review
noted, "Throughout Executive Order 13292, there are changes to the original Clinton order
which, in effect, give the vice president the power of the president in dealing with classified material....Executive Order 13292 is further evidence of real power in the vice president's office."
This analysis is contradicted by the supplemental Order of October 13, 1995 issued pursuant to Sec. 1.4 (a)(2) of President Clinton's Executive Order 12958 of April 17, 1995 declaring the Vice President as a designated official with the same ability to originate classified information at the highest level, "Top Secret", and by design - the lower-levels and further delegations by default, as if named directly in the original Executive Order pursuant to the clause directly preceding it [Sec. 1.4(a)(1)]. The subsequent revisions to the regulations governing Classified National Security Information practices by both Presidents Bush and Obama differed from EO 12958 in that they declared the Vice President directly in their original issuances rather than in a supplemental Order as President Clinton had.
Executive Order 12958 and the amendments incorporated into it, including Executive Order 13292, were revoked by President Barack Obama
in the issuance of Executive Order 13526
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on March 25, 2003, entitled "Further Amendment to Executive Order 12958
Executive Order 12958
Executive Order 12958 created new standards for the process of identifying and protecting classified information, and led to an unprecedented effort to declassify millions of pages from the U.S. diplomatic and national security history. In 1995, United States President William J. Clinton signed...
, as Amended, Classified National Security Information
Classified information in the United States
The United States government classification system is currently established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the...
." The Executive Order modified the manner in which sensitive information was handled at the time as set out by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's 1995 executive order.
Clinton's order set declassification deadlines for classified material and made it harder for politicians to classify information. Bush's order appears to allow much more information to be classified and for longer periods; the wording is hard to decipher in some areas. It also appears to give more power over classification to the Offices of the President and Vice President, but the wording used was not properly defined in the listing of relevant definitions now consolidated into their own section in Part 6 of the Executive Order.
Among the various changes made to the 1995-based regulations, Executive Order 13292 notably:
- eliminated the 1995-based order’s standard that information should not be classified if there is “significant doubt” about the need to do so;
- treated information obtained in confidence from foreign governments as classified;
- authorized the Vice President, “in the performance of executive duties,” to classify information originally;
- added “infrastructures” and “protection services” to the categories of classifiable information;
- eased the reclassification of declassified records;
- postponed the starting date for automatic declassification of protected records 25 or more years old from April 17, 2003, to December 31, 2006;
- eliminated the requirement that agencies prepare plans for declassifying records;
- canceled the order requiring the Archivist to create a “government wide database of information that has been declassified,” and instead requires the “Director of the Information Security Oversight Office ... [to] coordinate the linkage and effective utilization of existing agency databases of records that have been declassified and publicly released”; and
- permitted the Director of Central Intelligence to block declassification actions of the ISCAP, unless overruled by the President.
A more extensive analysis of the changes from the previous executive order was compiled by the group Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
.
Then-Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
said in a February 15, 2006, interview, "There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the President, but also includes the Vice President." This was based in the then newly added but undefined and untested wording stipulating the Vice President's ability to exercise classification authority rested “in the performance of [his] executive duties,”. The phrase no longer appears in Executive Order 13526 though the Vice President is directly listed rather than amended in separately via a standard Order.
Byron York
Byron York
Byron York is a conservative American columnist for the Washington Examiner, Fox News contributor, and author who lives in Washington, D.C.-Career:...
of the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
noted, "Throughout Executive Order 13292, there are changes to the original Clinton order
Executive Order 12958
Executive Order 12958 created new standards for the process of identifying and protecting classified information, and led to an unprecedented effort to declassify millions of pages from the U.S. diplomatic and national security history. In 1995, United States President William J. Clinton signed...
which, in effect, give the vice president the power of the president in dealing with classified material....Executive Order 13292 is further evidence of real power in the vice president's office."
This analysis is contradicted by the supplemental Order of October 13, 1995 issued pursuant to Sec. 1.4 (a)(2) of President Clinton's Executive Order 12958 of April 17, 1995 declaring the Vice President as a designated official with the same ability to originate classified information at the highest level, "Top Secret", and by design - the lower-levels and further delegations by default, as if named directly in the original Executive Order pursuant to the clause directly preceding it [Sec. 1.4(a)(1)]. The subsequent revisions to the regulations governing Classified National Security Information practices by both Presidents Bush and Obama differed from EO 12958 in that they declared the Vice President directly in their original issuances rather than in a supplemental Order as President Clinton had.
Executive Order 12958 and the amendments incorporated into it, including Executive Order 13292, were revoked by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in the issuance of Executive Order 13526
Executive Order 13526
Executive Order 13526 was enacted on December 29, 2009 by United States President Barack Obama. It is the latest in a series of executive orders from US Presidents outlining how classified information should be handled...
.
External links
- Further Amendment to Executive Order 12958, As Amended, Classified National Security Information, White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, March 25, 2003