The Use of Presidential Directives to Make and Implement U.S. Policy

GAO discussed its ongoing study on how the current and previous administrations used presidential directives to make and implement U.S. policy. GAO noted that: (1) the National Security Council (NSC) has produced policy papers and presidential directives, representing the U.S. position on a broad variety of national security issues, since 1947; (2) most of these documents remain classified and are largely unavailable for congressional or public scrutiny; (3) NSC does not routinely or systematically seek congressional views before issuing directives, or notify Congress when it issues directives; (4) there is no complete listing of presidential directives issued by any administration; (5) although the administrations tailored the system for announcing and circulating directives to reflect personal style, they used the directives in similar ways; and (6) many of the directives rescinded or superseded previous directives, demonstrating the ongoing nature of the documents. GAO also noted that, of 247 publicly released directives it analyzed: (1) 47 percent established policy, directed the implementation of policy, or authorized the commitment of government resources; and (2) 63 percent involved foreign policy issues, 41 percent involved military issues, and 22 percent involved domestic matters.