The executive branch
guidance document
An agency statement explaining how it reads or will enforce a rule. It is not supposed to bind anyone, but in practice regulated parties treat it as if it does.
In full
Guidance covers interpretive rules, policy statements, FAQs, and enforcement manuals. Because it skips notice and comment, it is fast, which is its appeal and its problem: a document that changes what regulated parties must actually do, while carrying no formal legal force, is hard to challenge in court and easy to change without notice.
Also written as: subregulatory guidance
Where to go next
Keep going
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.