Statement on Signing an Executive Order on Helping Left-Behind Communities Make a Comeback

This executive order, signed by President Biden on January 19, 2025, directs federal resources toward communities that have experienced long-term economic decline — places the administration describes as having been left behind by decades of offshoring, reduced public investment, and the erosion of manufacturing employment. The order builds on prior administration initiatives and appears intended to ensure that existing federal investment programs continue to reach distressed areas before the change in administration.

The action affects residents of economically struggling communities across the country, particularly those in areas historically dependent on manufacturing or other industries that have contracted over recent decades. Federal agencies involved in economic development, infrastructure, and workforce programs would also be affected by the order's directives.

Executive orders of this type operate under Article II of the Constitution, which grants the President authority to direct executive branch agencies. This order's constitutional basis depends on whether it operates within statutory authority that Congress has already delegated, rather than creating new policy on its own. As a late-term order signed one day before the administration's end, its practical longevity depended on whether a successor administration chose to continue or revoke it.

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