in effect
This is a presidential Executive Order (EO 14176), signed January 23, 2025, directing federal agencies to release government records about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It states that these records should be made fully public and instructs officials to produce plans for their complete release.
The order sets two deadlines. Within 15 days, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General must present the President a plan to fully release the remaining records about the JFK assassination — records that a 1992 law had required be disclosed by October 26, 2017, but which had stayed partly withheld through certifications issued in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023 that allowed continued redaction. Within 45 days, those same officials must review and present a plan to release records about the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinations. The order notes that no law requires releasing the RFK and MLK records, but the President determined releasing them is in the public interest. It directs plans for release rather than releasing the records itself, and specifies it must be carried out consistent with existing law and available funding.
The Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General carry the workload, coordinating with the National Security Adviser and the White House Counsel to prepare the release plans. The families of the three men and the general public are the intended beneficiaries, since the order frames disclosure as owed to them. The order also states it creates no legal rights that anyone can enforce in court against the government.