On 8 September 2026 President Trump signed an Executive Order, "Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act," amending EO 13603 (National Defense Resources Preparedness) to split energy-related Defense Production Act authorities that had been held solely by the Secretary of Energy, giving the Secretary of the Interior independent authority over energy matters within Interior's purview. Disputes between the two Secretaries are routed to the National Energy Dominance Council (and, where national-security infrastructure is implicated, jointly to the National Security Council). The order additionally delegates DPA Section 101(c)(1)-(2) authority to the Secretaries of the Interior, Commerce, and Energy, each empowered to exercise it independently of the others. This is a second EO with the same title as the March 13, 2026 order (EO 14391), further reallocating the same delegation structure rather than replacing it outright.

Analyst notesShow

Mechanism

This EO is a procedural re-delegation, not a new substantive restriction: it does not itself compel production, allocate materials, or impose a control on any company. It resolves an internal-executive-branch question of which Cabinet officer can pull DPA levers over energy resources, splitting authority the March 2026 order (also titled "Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act," which amended the same underlying EO 13603 to add the Secretary of Energy alongside Commerce) had concentrated differently. The Interior Secretary now has an independent line into DPA energy authority — relevant given Interior's control over federal land leasing for minerals and energy development — and disputes escalate to the National Energy Dominance Council rather than requiring fresh presidential sign-off.

The Section 101(c)(1)-(2) delegation to Interior, Commerce, and Energy (concurrently, independently) is the more consequential piece for industry: it means any of the three agencies can separately invoke that authority (allocation of materials/facilities/services to promote national defense) without waiting on the others.

Downstream implications

Companies operating on federal land or in energy/critical-minerals

supply chains now face three potential DPA-authority points of contact (Interior, Commerce, Energy) instead of a single channel — worth tracking which agency actually exercises Section 101(c) first. the National Energy Dominance Council becomes the de facto arbiter of interagency energy-authority disputes, reinforcing its role as the administration's operational hub for DPA-driven energy/minerals policy (see 2026-04-20-us-trump-dpa-303-energy-package for the substantive determinations under that hub's remit).

Open questions

No press coverage of this specific order had appeared as of filing

(same-day signature); the March 2026 predecessor of the same title (EO 14391) is not yet in this register — worth backfilling if it proves consequential to any dossier.

Federal Register publication (with an assigned EO number) had not

yet posted at filing time; revisit to add the EO number and FR citation once published.

Sources

Primary: The White House — Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act (Sept. 8, 2026)

Secondary: Federal Register — EO 13603, National Defense Resources Preparedness (base order being amended)

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Mechanism

Downstream implications

Companies operating on federal land or in energy/critical-minerals

Open questions

No press coverage of this specific order had appeared as of filing

(same-day signature); the March 2026 predecessor of the same title (EO 14391) is not yet in this register — worth backfilling if it proves consequential to any dossier.

Federal Register publication (with an assigned EO number) had not

yet posted at filing time; revisit to add the EO number and FR citation once published.