in effect
This is Executive Order 14149, signed January 20, 2025, and published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2025. It is a presidential directive titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” It sets a government-wide policy against federal involvement in suppressing Americans’ speech and orders an investigation into past federal conduct.
The order states a policy that no federal officer, employee, or agent — and no taxpayer money — may be used to engage in or facilitate conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge an American citizen’s free speech. It directs the Attorney General, working with the heads of executive departments and agencies, to investigate federal government activities over the previous four years that conflict with this policy. The Attorney General must then prepare a report for the President, routed through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, recommending “appropriate remedial actions.” The order does not set a specific deadline, funding amount, or penalty; it says implementation is subject to existing law and available appropriations. It also states it creates no legally enforceable rights against the government.
The direct actors are federal departments, agencies, and their officers and employees, whose conduct is now governed by this policy and who are the subject of the ordered investigation. The Attorney General carries the main assignment of investigating and reporting. The order describes its intended beneficiaries as American citizens engaging in constitutionally protected speech, and its stated concerns reference online platforms and social media companies, though the document itself directs no action toward those private companies.