The executive branch
presidential memorandum
A presidential directive like an executive order but unnumbered, and not always published in the Federal Register.
In full
Memoranda do the same work as executive orders, directing agencies, with less formality: no sequential numbering, no automatic Federal Register publication unless the President or law requires it. Administrations choose between the instruments largely by custom and visibility.
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.